UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

AT 

LOS  ANGELES 

LIBRARY 


PETER    THE    GREAT 

Vol.  I. 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


PETER  THE  GREAT 


EMPEROR    OF    RUSSIA 


A   STUDY  OF  HISTORICAL  BIOGRAPHY 


EUGENE  SCHUYLER,  Ph.D.,  LL.D. 

ADTHOB    OF    "TUBKISTAN" 


IN    TWO    VOLUMES 

Vol.   I. 


'.>.''    * 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S    SONS 

1890 


311 


COPYRIGHT,   1880,  BY 

EUGENE    SCHUYLER 

Copyright,  1884,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


•mows 

NO  BOOKBINDING  COMPANY, 
NEW  VORK. 


SiD£ 


i 


i  "3    > 


p,*& 


PREFACE 


N 

N 

What  is  said  in  the   following  volumes    is   founded 

\  on  the  diligent — and  I  hope  the  impartial — study  of 

original  documents  in  the  archives  of  various  countries, 

^    of  the  Russian  collections  of  laws  and  state  papers,  of 

the  memoirs  and  accounts  of  Peter's  contemporaries,  of 

Jj.  the  works  of  Russian  historians,  and  of  most  of  the 
important  books  written  on  the  subject  by  foreigners. 

My  views  of  portions  of  the  history  of  the  times 
under  consideration  differ  in  some  respects  from  those 
generally  entertained.     I  have  not  thought  it  necessary 

^  to  emphasize  them  by  attempting  to  refute  the  views 
of  others,  or  by  disproving  anecdotes  and  stories  in 
such  common  circulation  as  to  have  become  almost 
legendary.  I  have  told  the  story  of  Peter's  life  and 
reign  as  I  understand  it,  and  I  hope  that  my  readers 
will  believe  that  there  is  good  evidence  for  every  state- 
ment that  I  make. 


VI  PREFACE. 

The  books  consulted  are  very  many,  and  it  lias  been 
impossible  to  cite  them  all.  As  continual  references 
to  authorities  which  are  chiefly  Russian  would  appeal 
to  very  few  of  my  readers,  I  have  thought  it  best  to 
avoid  them,  and  have  mentioned  only  my  chief  author- 
ities at  the  end  of  the  chapters.  Historical  students 
and  those  conversant  with  the  literature  of  the  period 
will  in  this  way  readily  find  whence  I  have  taken  my 
facts. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  reader,  I  have  avoided 
as  far  as  possible  the  use  of  purely  Russian  words  and 
titles,  and  where  the  Euglish  forms  of  proper  names 
are  not  used,  an  accentual  mark  has  been  placed  to 
facilitate  pronunciation. 

As  circumstances  have  compelled  me  to  live  in  five 
different  countries  since  I  began  this  work,  often  away 
from  public  libraries,  and  with  only  my  own  books 
and  my  notes  to  rely  upon,  I  must  ask  pardon  for 
many  deficiencies  and  slips. 

I  owe  especial  thanks  for  their  kind  criticism  and 
assistance  to  Professor  Bestuzhef-Riumin  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  St.  Petersburg,  and  Professor  Bruckner  of 
the  University  of  Dorpat,  whose  works  I  have  had 
frequent  occasion  to  cite,  and  which  often  put  me  on 
the  track  of  authorities  that  I  niio;ht  otherwise  have 


PREFACE.  Vll 

overlooked ;  and  more  particularly  to  Professor  Claes 
Annerstedt  of  the  University  of  Upsala,  who  has 
been  of  great  aid  in  procuring  rare  Swedish  books 
for  me. 

The  portrait  of  Peter  the  Great  is  engraved  after 
that  by  Carl  de  Moor,  painted  at  the  Hague  in  1717, 
which  was  the  picture  most  liked  by  Peter  himself, 
and  preferred  for  engravings.  It  was  for  many  years 
supposed  to  be  lost,  but  I  discovered  it  at  Amsterdam 
in  the  possession  of  a  private  family,  where  it  had 
come  by  inheritance  from  the  painter  Liotard,  to  whom 
it  had  been  sent  by  the  artist  himself. 

EUGENE   SCHUYLER. 

Legation  of  the  United  States,  Athens  : 
TJianksgiving  Buy,  November  29,  1883 


ERRATA. 


Page     1, 

'  11, 

'  45, 

'  53, 

1  59, 

•  105, 
'  124, 
'  138, 
'  210, 

*  215, 
'  216, 
'  221, 
'  279, 
'  296, 
'  298, 

'  311, 

'  323, 

'  334, 

'  335, 

'  336, 

'  371, 

'  385, 

'  396, 

'  409, 

'  434, 

'  443, 


line     23,   for  Pskov,  read  Pskof. 

{twice)  "    Soltykofs,  read  Saltykofs. 

10,     "    Tcherkassky,  read  Tcherkdsky. 
(twice)  "    Soltykof,  "     Saltykof. 

4,     "    had  given,         "     sent. 
37,     "    Prasko via  Soltykof,  read  Prascovia  Saltykof. 
20,     "    Oriekhovo,  read  Orekhovo. 
23,     "    Lntzk,  read  Lutsk. 
3,     "    Lubomirsky,  read  Luboniirski. 
29,     "    Theodore,         "     Yury. 

26,  "    Soltykofs,         "     Saltykofs. 
last,     "    Captain,  "     Colonel. 
2,  14,  "    Pskov,  read  Pskof. 

14,     "    Thessing,  read  Thesingh. 

add  '  Despatches '   of  Polish  Agent  Bose  in  Dresden  Ar- 
chives.     'Coll.  of  Kuss.  Imp.  Hist.  Soc.,'  xx. 
14,  for  von,  read  zu. 

27,  "   Massalsky,  read  Masalsky. 

2,210,  13,  15,  18,  20,  24,  27,  33,  i  ^ ^^  "*  ^^ 
o,  7,  8,  ' 

5,  23,  for  Cardis,  read  Kardis. 

17,     "  III.,         "     IV. 

27,     "  Karlskrona,  read  Carlscrona. 

3,     "  Soltykof,  "     Saltykof. 

27,     "  Koporie,  "     Koporie. 

20,     "  Lagau,  "     Lage. 

"      "  Dec.  2,  "    Dec.  13. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introductory, 1 

CHAPTER  I. 
Second  Marriage  op  the  Tsar  Alexis — Birth  of  Peter,       .        .      9 

CHAPTER  II. 
Life  at  Court, 19 

CHAPTER   III. 
Death  of  Alexis — Great  Changes — Peter's  Childhood,         .        .     27 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Court  Intrigues — Death  of  Theodore — Election  of  Peter,         .     32 

CHAPTER  V. 

Need  of  Reform — Abolition  of  Precedence — Grievances  of  the 
Streltsi — Return  of  Matveief, 39 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Riot  of  the  Streltst,  1682, 49 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Ivan  Elected  Tsar  Jolntly  with  Peter — Sophia  Appointed  Re- 
gent— Pacification  of  the  Streltsi,  1682,         .        .        .        .64 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

TnE  Dissenters  Demand  Discussion— Coronation  of  the  Tsars, 
1682, 71 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGE 

Tiik  Riotous  Disputation  ok  the  Dissenters,  and  its  Ending, 

1682, 81 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  Execution  of  Havansky — The  Submission  op  the  Stkeltsi,      89 

CHAPTER  XI. 
\     The  Boyhood  of  Peteh — His  Military  Exercises,  and  the  Begin- 
ning op  Boat-building,  1682-1688, K»:{ 

CHAPTER  XII. 
/     Peter's  Marriage— His  Return  to  his  Boats,  1688-1689,      .        .  115 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
The  Internal  Administration  ok  Sophia— Arrangement  of  the 

Dispute  with  Sweden, 122 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Eternal  Peace  with  Poland — The  Metropolis  ok  Kiek,      .         .  130 

CHAPTER  XV. 
Embassies  to  Vienna  and  Paris,  KJST, 142 


CHAPTER  XVI. 
Troubles  with  Turks  and  Tartars,  1687, 


152 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  Second  Crimean  Expedition,  1689, 161 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
The  Flnal  Struggle  Between  Sophia  and  Peter,  1689,       .        .  169 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
Victory  and  Vengeance, 184 

CHAPTER  XX. 
\      Outbcrst  uk  Fanaticism, 191 


CONTENTS.  XI 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

PAGE 

The  German  Suburb  at  Moscow, 198 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Peter's  Friends  and  Life  in  the  German  Suburb,        .        .         .  208 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Fireworks  and  Sham  Fights.  1690-1692, 221 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
Peter  Tries  the  Open  Sea,  1693-1694, 227 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
The  First  Campaign  Against  Azof,  1695, 240 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

The  Capture  of  Azof, ,  .        .  250 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
The  Effect  of  the  Victory — Building  a  Fleet  in  Earnest,       .  261 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
Russians  Abroad, 2<i7 

CHAPTER  XXIX.  y 

The  Journkv  of  Peter  to  Western  Europe,         ....  274 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
Peter  in  Holland, 287  | 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 
Visit  of  the  Tsar  to  England,  ........  299. 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 
The  Journey  Home, 311 

CHAPTER  XXXHI. 
The  Revolt  and  the  Punishment  of  the  Streltsi,     .        .        .  321 


Xil  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

PAGE 

TnE  Tsaritsa  is  Sent  to  a  Cloister, 332 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 
Foreign  Fashions  and  First  Reforms, 337 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 
Peter's  Dejection,  Anger,  and  Grief, 348 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 
A  Truce  with  Turkey, 354 

CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 
The  League  Against  Sweden, 3G4 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 
Russia  Joins  the  League, 371 

CHAPTER    XL. 

CnARLES   THE   TWELFTH, 379 

CHAPTER  XLI. 
The  Battle  of  Narva, 390 

CHAPTER  XLII. 
After  the  Battle, • 400 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 
Negotiations  for  Mediation  and  Alliance,  1701,  ....  409 

CHAPTER  XLIV. 
Russian  Successes  on  the  Neva  and  the  Baltic  Coast,   1701- 

1704, 418 

CHAPTER  XLV. 
Menshikof  and  Catherine, 432 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FULL-PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 
Peter  the  Great, Frontispiece. 

TO   FACE   PAGE 

The  Introduction  of  Christianity  into  Russia.     (From  a  drawing 

by  Charlemagne,  Court-painter  of  Russia.), 1 

Russian  Hospitality  in  the  Time  of  Ivan  the  Terrible.     (From 

a  painting  by  Schwartz.),     .........  3 

The  Kremlin,  Moscow, 12 

Ivan  the  Terrible  ln  Old  Age, 21 

The  Terem,  or  Women's  Apartment, 23 

A  Peasant  Girl  in  Ancient  Russian  Dress.     (From  a  painting  by 

Makovsky.), 26 

Tsar  Theodore  Burning  the  Books  of  Precedence,      .                .  41 

The  Tsaritsa  before  the  Rioters, 50 

Sornn.  Feastlng  the  Streltsi.     (From  a  drawing  by  N.  Dniitrieff.),  68 

The  Dissenters  Exhortlng  the  People  from  the  Red  Staircase. 

(Drawn  by  N.  Dniitrieff.), ^2 

The  Disputation  before  Sophia.     (Drawn  by  N.  Dmitrieff.),     .         .  85 


XIV  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

TO    FACE   PAGE 

I'ktki!   PLAYING  at  War.     (From  a  Russian  painting.),  .  .         .  106 

TlMMEli.MANN    EXPLAINING    TO   PETER    THE    USE    OF    THE    ASTROLABE. 

(From  a  Russian  painting.),         ........  110 

Peter  Finding  "the  Grandfather  of  the  Russian  Fleet."    (From 
a  painting  by  Count  Masoyedoff.),       .         .         .         .        .        .         .112 

Peter    Launching  "the   Grandfather   of   the  Russian  Fleet." 

(From  a  Russian  painting.),  .         .  .         .  .         .         .         .114 

A  Group  of  Boyars — Krembin  in  the  Background,        .        .        .  128 

Sobieski  Consenting  to  the  Cession   of  Kief.     (Drawn  by  P.   L. 

Szyndler.), 136 

The    Russian    Ambassadors  and  the  French    Police    Officials. 

(From  a  drawing  by  Albert  Adelfelt.), 145 

Reception  of  a  Russl\n  Embassy  at  Versailles,     ....  148 

Life  in  the  Ukraine — "The  Return  from  the  Market."    (From 

the  painting  by  Chelmonski.),     ........   155 

Tartars  Burning  the  Steppe  in  Advance  of  the  Russian  Army. 

(Drawn  by  Vierge.), 159 

Kamenetz    in    Podolia.       (Drawn    by    R.    Riordan    from     a    photo- 
graph.),        •         •  .   162 

The  Offending  Picture  of  Sophia.     (By  Tarasevitch,  with  the   in- 
scription by  Sylvester  Medvedief.), 170 

Peter  Awakened, 175 

Peter  at  the  Troitsa  Monastery  Receiving  the  Deputations  of 

the  Streltsi, 177 

Sophia's  Appeal  to  her  Partisans, ■  .  180 

NoVODEYITf 'HY    MONASTERY, 188 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  XV 

TO   FACE   PAGE 

Rural  Post  in  Russia.     (From  a  painting  by  X.  Swertchkoff. ),    .         .  206 

Companions  of  Peter, 215 

The  Stone  Jug.     (From  the  original  by  A.  van  Ostade  in  the  museum 

at  Vienna.),  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .217 

The  Procession  in  Honor  of  the  Persian  Ambassadors,       .        .  223 

Tartar  Cavalry  Attacking  a  Russian  Commissariat  Train,    .         .  241 

The  Message  to  Azof  on  the  Name's-day  of  the  Tsar,         .         .  257 

Peter  Builds  his  First  Fleet.     (From  a  picture  painted  for  the  Rus- 
sian Government.),       ..........  265 

Peter  the  Great  at  Zaandam.     (From  an  engraving  by  Wappers.),  .  289 
Peter's  House  at  Zaandam, 291 

Meeting    of    Peter  the  Great  and  William  III.   of  England. 

(Drawn  by  Victor  Nehlig.), 299 

Nicholas  Witsen,  Burgomaster  of  Amsterdam,        ....  309 

The  Princess  Sophia  as  the  Nun  Susanna  in  the  Novodevitchy 
Monastery, 327 

The  Streltsi  Going  to  Execution, 330 

The  Tsar  Cutting  the  Long  Sleeves  of  the  Boyars,    .        .        .  340 

Cutting  off  the  Long  Robes  of  the  Boyars.     (From  an  etching.),  342 

Procession  in  Honor  of  Bacchus, 350 

Oleg  Nailing  his  Shield  to  the  Gate  of  Constantinople.     (From 

an  etching  by  Professor  Bruni.),  .......  359 

Charles  XII.  Bear-huntino, 383 

Mad  Frolic  of  Charles  XII., 387 

The  Battle  of  Narva, 398 


XVI  1. 1ST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

ILLUSTRATIONS  IN  THE  TEXT. 

PAGE 

Russian  Flag  of  Peteb's  Time, xx 

Tsaiutsa  Natalia,  Mother  of  Petek  the  Great,    .        .        .        .10 

The  Great  Bell  of  the  Tower  of  Ivan  Veliki,  Rung  at  the 
Birth  of  Peter  the  Great, 13 

Tsar  Theodore  (half-brother  of  Peter), 28 

Tsareyitch  Joann,  OR  Ivan  (half-brother  of  Peter),      .         .         .         .34 

The  Streltsi  of  1613 42 

The  Streltsi  of  a  Little  Later  Date, 42 

Officers  of  the  Streltsi, 45 

Flag  of  the  Streltsi  of  Moscow, 48 

Matveief, 51 

The  Patriarch  Nikon, 55 

Ivan  Naryshkin, 61 

The  Princess  Sophia,  Sister  of  Peter, 65 

The  Baton  of  Prlnce  Golitsyn, 70 

Cathedral  of  the  Assumption,  Moscow, 71 

Orthodox  Sign  of  the  Cross  in  Benediction, 74 

Orthodox  Sign  of  the  Cross  in  Prayer, 75 

Dissenting  Sign  of  the  Cross, 76 

DOUBLE  Throne  used  at  Peter's  Coronation,          .        .                 .  77 

Orb  and  Crown  of  Peter  and  Orb  and  Crown  of  Monomachus,  79 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS.  XV11 

PAGE 

The  Cross  op  Peter, 88 

Guards  of  State  at  Receptions  and  Processions,  .        .        .98 

Globe  op  Metal  from  which  Peter  Studied  Geography,  for- 
merly owned  by  Alexis.  Now  in  the  Treasury  at  Moscow.  (Drawn 
by  Maurice  Howard  from  "  The  Russian  Empire."*,  ....   114 

Mahomet  IV.,  Sultan  of  Turkey, 116 

Eudoxia  Lopukhin,  First  Wife  of  Peter  the  Great,    .        .        .  118 

Jan  Sobleskt,  King  of  Poland.     (From  an  old  engraving  ),        .         .  132 

Pope  Innocent  XI.     (From  an  old  engraving.), 134 

Peter's  Travelling  Sledge, 151 

Medal  Given  to  Prince  Go:  itsyn  for  the  Crimean  Cam- 
paign,          100 

Our  Lady  of  Kazan, 171 

Sabres  of  Mazeppa,  Chief  of  the  Cossacks  (in  the  museum  of  Tsar- 

koe  Selo), 189 

Prince  Boris  Golitsyn, 191 

General  Patrick  Gordon, 193 

Arms  of  the  Tsar's  Body-guard — Partisan.  (From  Antiquites  de  la 
Russie.), 199 

Arms  of  the  Tsar's  Body-guard — Partisan.  (From  Antiquites  de  la 
Russie.), 200 

Arms  made  for  Russians — Arquebuse  of  Tsar  Alexander,  made 

in  1654.     (From  Antiquites  de  la  Russie.), 203 

Lock  of  Arquebuse.     (From.  Antiquites  de  la  Russie.),  ....  204 


Xviii  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Model  op  a  Ship  built  by  Peter.     (From  the  Marine  Museum,  St. 

Petersburg.), 222 

.Ma/.i  :rr.\, 242 

ALEXIS  She'in, 251 

Petek  in  TnE  Dress  he  Wore  at  Azof, 254 

Peter  in  TnE  Dress  of  Western  Europe, 274 

Peter  at  Work  at  Zaandam, 288 

Sham  Fight  on  TnE  Y, 290 

Peter  in  the  Museum  of  Jacob  de  Wilde 295 

Copy  of  Etching  by  Peter, 296 

Peter's  Evening  Pipe, 297 

Bate's  Court, 300 

Spire  of  St.  Stephan's  Cathedral,  Vienna, 312 

West  Front  of  St.  Stephan's  Cathedral,  Vlenna,         .        .        .  314 

Trinity  Column,  Vienna, '  .        .        .        .  316 

Column  of  the  Virgin,  Vienna, 318 

A  Contemporary  Caricature, 338 

Token  for  Beard  Duty, 339 

Catherine  II.  in  National  Costume, 343 

Tin:  Apostle  Peter, 357 

Patktl, 367 

Queen  Ulrica  Ei.eanora, -    .  379 

Basra  Ciiaki.es  XII., 381 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS.  XIX 

PAGE 

Bombardment  ok  Noteburg, 423 

Defeat  of  the  Swedish  Flotilla, 427 

Menshikof, 432 

Guard-room  of  the  Ancient  Terem, 435 


At  the  end  of  Volume. 
Map  of  Russla.  in  Europe. 
Map  of  Russia  at  the  Time  of  Peter  the  Great. 


Russian  Flag  of  Peter's  Time. 


PETER    THE    GREAT. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

A  broad,  open  plain,  with  scarcely  a  hill,  but  everywhere 
intersected  by  navigable  rivers,  with  its  three  zones  of  arid, 
saline  steppe,  of  rich  and  fertile  arable  land,  of  forest  and 
frozen  moor,  fitted  in  every  respect  to  be  the  home  of  a  united 
and  homogeneous  people,  we  find  Russia  a  thousand  years  ago 
sparsely  inhabited  by  disunited  Slavonic  tribes,  frequently  at 
war  with  each  other,  and  unable  to  cope  with  their  neighbours 
of  Finnish  and  Turkish  race.  Scandinavian  heroes,  as  the  -,,,  . 
legend  runs,  are  called  in ;  civilisation  and  strong  govern- 
ment go  rapidly  hand  in  hand ;  and  a  distinctively  Russian 
nation  is  born  from  the  two  centres  of  Novgorod  and  Kief. 
Christianity  is  introduced  from  Constantinople,  and  with  it 
Byzantine  ideas  of  law  and  polity,  which  have  never  disap- 
peared, and  of  which  the  influence  is  still  felt.  Then  comes 
the  appanage  period,  when  the  whole  of  Russia  is  divided  into 
independent  yet  related  states,  each  governed  by  its  Prince  of 
the  House  of  Rurik  under  the  general  headship  of  the  oldest 
member  of  the  family,  the  power  passing,  not  from  father  to 
son,  but,  as  now  in  Turkey  and  the  East,  to  the  oldest  male 
member  of  the  family. 

The  absolute  power  of  the  princes  was,  in  some  measure, 

controlled  by  the  popular  assemblies  which  existed  in  most  of 

the   larger   towns.     Pskov   and   Novgorod   had   already  been 

greatly  developed,  and  Russia  seemed  to  have  entered  early 

Vol.  I.— 1 


2  PETEB   THE   GREAT. 

that  path  of  progress  which  would  in  time  have  rendered  lier 
a  free  and  constitutional  country.  Trade,  especially  with  the 
west  of  Kurope,  through  Novgorod  and  the  Hanse  towns,  had 
received  a  great  impetus,  and  the  court  of  Kief  displayed  a 
high  civilisation,  when  the  whole  country,  overrun  by  the 
Mongols  and  the  Tartars,  was  obliged  to  submit  to  their  yoke. 
The  effect  of  the  Mongol  supremacy  was  not  felt  in  mixture  of 
race  and  very  little  in  corruption  of  language,  but  chiefly  in  the 
arrest  of  all  political  and  commercial  development, 
and  in  the  introduction  among  the  Grand  Dukes  of 
new  maxims  and  methods  of  government.  The  Russian  states 
were  not  ruled  directly  by  the  Mongols :  they  were  merely 
vassal.  The  Grand  Dukes  received  their  confirmation  from 
Tartary,  but  the  only  Tartar  officials  in  Russia  were  those  who 
resided  in  the  larger  towns  for  the  collection  of  tribute.  The 
greatest  positive  effects  produced  by  the  Tartar  supremacy  were 
the  separation  of  Russia  from  Europe  and  its  withdrawal  from 
Western  influences,  the  gradual  union  of  the  whole  country 
under  the  Grand  Dukes  of  Moscow  and  the  establishment 
of  autocracy,  which  was  indeed  necessary  to  this  union  and  to 
the  expulsion  of  the  Tartars.  One  state  after  another  was 
swallowed  up  by  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Moscow,  and  even  the 
free  cities  of  Novgorod  and  Pskof  were  mulcted  of  their  privi- 
leges and  received  the  tyrant.  After  the  autocracy  had  justi- 
fied its  existence  by  unifying  the  country  and  freeing  it  from 
the  Mongol  yoke,  it  reached  its  highest  development  under 
Ivan  the  Terrible,  who  succeeded  for  a  time  in  entirely  break- 
^00  ing  up  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  of  boyars  and  in 

realising  what  has  so  often  seemed  the  ideal  of  the 
Russian  state — an  equal  people  under  an  absolute  monarch. 
The  Russian  people  had  suffered  so  much  from  their  lords,  the 
landed  proprietors,  the  officials,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the 
noble  classes,  that  they  had  become  convinced — as  ignorant 
persons  are  apt  to  be — that  it  was  only  the  nobility  and  the 
boyars  who  k darkened  the  counsels  of  the  Tsar'  and  prevented 
their  happiness.  For  this  reason  Ivan  the  Terrible,  in  spite  of 
his  cruelties,  was  very  popular  among  the  masses  of  the  Rus- 
sian people,  and  even  now  his  name  is  mentioned  rather  with 
affection  than  hatred.     The  death  of  Ivan,  who  left  only  feeble 


RUSSIAN*   HOSPITALITY   IN   THE  TIME   OF  IVAN  THE   TERRIBLE. 


INTRODUCTORY.  3 

and  minor  children,  gave  a  blow  to  autocracy  and  brought  back 
the  nobility  into  power. 

The  firm  hand  of  Boris  Godunof,  the  usurper,  for  a  time 
kept  order,  and  accomplished  what  the  nobility  then  thought 
absolutely  necessary  to  their  existence  as  a  power- 
ful class — i.e.,  reduced  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
Russian  people  to  serfdom,  an  institution  then  first  legally  es- 
tablished. Then  came  the  Troublous  Time — that  period  of 
commotion,  distress,  and  invasion,  when  pretender  .  „ 
vied  with  pretender,  and  the  son  of  the  King  of  Po- 
land was  crowned  Tsar  of  Moscow.  The  strength  of  each  of 
these  pretenders  was  the  measure  of  the  hatred  which  the  com- 
mon people  bore  to  the  nobility.  That  mysterious  prince  who 
1  »ears  in  history  the  name  of  '  the  false  Dimitri,'  in  spite  of  his 
foreign  ways,  was  popular  among  the  people,  although  the  old 
nobility  stood  aloof  from  him.  He  was  overthrown,  not  by  the 
force  of  popular  commotion,  but  by  the  plotting  of  the  nobles. 
Basil  Shiiisky,  who  was  placed  on  the  throne  by  the  voice  of 
the  nobles,  was  unable  to  maintain  himself  there,  because  the 
general  sentiment  of  the  country,  which  had  not  been  consulted 
in  the  matter,  was  against  him.  Finally  the  Poles  were  turned 
out,  and  at  the  Diet,  or  general  assembly,  in  which  all  classes 
and  all  districts  in  the  country  were  pretty  fairly  represented, 
the  young  Michael  Pomanof  wTas  elected  Tsar. 

The  whole  reign  of  Michael  was  a  struggle  to  rid  the  coun- 
try of  the  Poles  and  the  Swedes,  who  were  attacking  it  from 
without,  and  to  put  down  the  bands  of  robbers  and  1ft19 
marauders  who  were  making  disturbance  within ;  for 
the  Troublous  Time  had  left  a  great  legacy  of  difficulty  to  the 
new  ruler.  The  country  was  poor ;  every  one  needed  money, 
and  no  one  more  than  the  Tsar  himself ;  for  officials  and  sol- 
diers were  loudly  clamouring  for  arrears  of  pay,  and  for  indem- 
nity for  the  losses  they  had  sustained  during  the  wars.  In 
order  to  raise  money,  and  in  order  more  firmly  to  establish  the 
power  of  the  Tsar,  it  was  found  necessary  to  have  frequent  re- 
course to  the  States-General,  especially  during  the  early  part 
of  the  reign.  Legislation  was  directed  in  part  to  providing  for 
the  administration  of  the  government,  but  chiefly  to  settling 
the  difficulties  caused  by  peasants  running  away  from  the  estates 


I  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

of  their  lords  during  the  Troublous  Time.  As  years  went  on 
and  Michael  became  more  firmly  seated  on  his  throne,  recourse 
was  less  often  aad  to  the  States-General,  and  the  aristocracy  to 
some  extent  regained  its  power.  In  the  latter  years  of  Michael's 
reign  the  government  Mas  practically  carried  on  by  a  single 
noble,  the  Prime  Minister,  or  Favourite,  or,  as  the  Russians  of 
that  time  expressively  styled  him,  'the  man  of  the  hour.' 

In  the  reign  of  Alexis  the  States-General  were  seldom  con- 
vokcd.  and  only  for  the  settlement  of  the  most  important  ques- 
tions, such  as  war  with  Poland  and  the  protectorate 
over  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine.  At  one  of  these 
sessions  the  Tsar  procured  the  ratification  of  his  well-known 
code,  which  went  further  than  anything  had  ever  done  to  estab- 
lish autocracy  on  a  regular  basis,  and  to  legalise  arbi- 
trary  government.  Even  then  no  discussion  was  al- 
lowed. The  315  deputies  present  were  permitted  merely  to 
listen  and  to  sign,  and  the  majority  of  160  that  protested  were 
exiled  to  the  Solovetsky  Monastery.  Henceforward  the  Tsar 
managed  all  matters,  both  great  and  .-mall,  according  to  his  own 
will  and  pleasure. 

The  Tsar  Alexis  was  a  man  of  good  impulses,  and  of  such 
gentle  and  amiable  character  that  he  was  called  by  his  subjects 
kThe  Mos1  Debonair.'  But  his  very  good  qualities  rendered 
him  one  of  the  worst  sovereigns  of  Russia.  The  power  was 
exercised  by  his  favourites — Morazof,  Ordin-Nastchokhi,  and 
Matveief,  and  under  the  rule  of  the  boyars  everything  seemed 
to  go  from  had  to  worse.  The  country  was  impoverished  and 
in  places  almost  depopulated;  the  administration  was  defective 
and  disorganised,  and  the  officials  were  corrupt.  Taxes  Mere 
high  ami  exactions  frequent.  A  sedition  broke  out  among  the 
distressed  people  at  Moscow;  the  Judge  Plestcheief  and  the 
Ok61nitchy  Trakhaniotof  had  to  he  given  up  by  the  Tsar  to  the 
furious  populace,  and  were  judged  and  executed  by  the  mob. 
Morozof,  the  Prime  Minister  and  brother-in-law  of  the  Tsar, 
only  Baved  his  life  by  a  timely  flight.  In  Novgorod  ami  Pskof 
the  populace  made  themselves  masters  of  the  city,  and  were 
only  put  down  when  troops  arrived  and  laid  regular  siege  to 
those  places.  In  the  south-east  of  Russia,  Stenka  Razin,  a  Co- 
sack  of  the  Don,  captured  Astrakhan,  and  established  himself 


INTRODUCTORY.  '.) 

on  the  lower  Volga,  whence  he  ravaged  the  whole  of  south- 
eastern Russia.  The  nobles  and  boyars  were  killed,  but  the 
peasantry  willingly  ranged  themselves  under  his  banners,  and 
Moscow  was  in  imminent  danger.  Stenka  Razin  was  put  down, 
captured  and  executed,  hut  his  name  was  always  a  watrhw.nl, 
and  lives  till  now  in  popular  songs.  BLe  was  a  popular  hero, 
embodying  the  discontent  of  the  common  people,  rather  than  a 
brigand  chief — a  Russian  Robin  Hood. 

Most  serious,  however,  in  its  ultimate  consequences  was  the 
rise  of  Dissent  in  the  Russian  Church.  Actuated  by  a  spirit 
of  reform  which  was  in  itself  laudable,  the  Patriarch  Nikon 
undertook  the  correction  of  all  the  printed  and  manuscript 
copies  of  the  liturgy.  Careful  comparisons  were  made  with 
the  formularies  and  service  hooks  of  the  Eastern  Church  as 
accepted  at  Constantinople,  and  with  the  early  copies  existing 
in  the  libraries  of  the  Russian  monasteries;  and,  finally,  by  a 
decree  of  an  Ecclesiastical  Council,  the  corrected  books  were 
ordered  to  be  the  only  ones  used,  and  the  destruction  was 
commanded  of  all  others.  This  measure  excited  the  greatest 
hostility  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  ignorant  clergy  as  well 
a-  of  those  who  wen;  heretical,  but  who  had  concealed  their 
heresy  under  the  incorrectness  of  the  book-  which  they  u 
Still  more  strongwas  the  feeling  among  the  mass  of  tin;  people, 
especially  in  remote  districts,  who  had  a  sincere,  even  if  some- 
times a  superstitious,  attachment  to  the  forms  and  ceremonies 
to  which  they  and  their  fathers  had  been  accustomed.  It 
seems  certainly  a  matter  of  surprise  that  passions  should  be  so 
excited  and  people  be  found  willing  to  suffer  martyrdom  for 
such  puerile  questions  as  to  -  hether  the  name  of  Jesus  should 
be  pronounced  'Isus  '  or  '  Fisue  '  :  whether,  in  a  certain  portion 
of  the  morning  service  the  word  'hallelujah'  should  be  re- 
peated twice  or  three  time- :  and  whether  the  sign  of  the  cross 
should  be  made  with  the  two  fore  fingers  extended,  or  with  the 
two  fore  fingers  and  the  thumb  conjoined  as  denoting  the 
Trinity.  But  it  will  not  seem  so  strange  when  Ave  consider  the 
Evangelical  clergy  of  the  Church  of  England  in  their  fierce 
and  violent  hatred  to  the 'eastward  position,'  or  to  prea ching 
in  a  surplice  instead  of  a  black  gown.  However  fallacious 
erroneous  the  doctrine.-  or  ceremonies  may  have  been,  the  Rus- 


6  PETEE   THE    GREAT. 

sian  people  held  to  them,  and  the  attempt  at  reform  caused  an 
explosion  in  the  form  of  religious  rebellion  of  popular  wrath 
and  discontent  which  had  long  been  simmering.  While  the 
one-sided  development  of  religious  life  in  Russia,  in  which 
devotion  to  outward  forms  had  obscured  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity, was  at  the  bottom  of  this  great  movement,  yet  the 
strength  of  Dissent  lay  in  its  democracy,  both  civil  and  relig- 
ious, and  in  its  being  a  protest  against  autocracy  both  in  Church 
and  State.  Fanatical  as  were  the  early  Dissenters,  they  were 
by  no  means  all  ignorant,  and  included  many  of  the  best  and 
worthiest  of  the  trailers  and  the  peasantry. 

Attempts  were  made  to  put  down  the  Dissenters  not  only 
by  spiritual  persuasion  but  by  the  force  of  arms,  and  some  of 
the  most  obstinate  were  executed;  but  the  monastery  of  Sol- 
ovetsk,  in  the  White  Sea,  M'here  the  ignorant  monks  had  suc- 
ceeded in  winning  over  the  Streltsi  and  other  soldiers  settled 
there  for  the  protection  of  the  place — for  it  was  also  a  frontier 
fortre>s — held  out  for  eight  years  against  all  the  forces  which 
the  Court  of  Moscow  could  send  ;  and  in  the  east  of  Russia, 
on  the  confines  of  Siberia,  the  inhabitants  of  whole  villages 
shut  themselves  up  in  their  houses  and  burnt  themselves  to 
death,  rather  than  accept  a  new  and,  as  they  considered  it,  a 
diabolical  religion.  The  Government  had  at  last  an  apparent 
victory,  and  the  revised  service  books  were  introduced  into  the 
churches;  but  in  obscure  convents  and  distant  villages  the  "Old 
Believers,'  as  they  called  themselves,  still  flourished.  At  the 
present  day  nearly  one-half  of  Russia  belongs  in  spirit,  if  not 
openly,  to  the  Dissenters,  and  the  reconciliation  which  is  by  no 
means  yet  complete,  between  the  Dissenters  and  the  official 
Church  has  been  only  accomplished  by  relaxing  the  rigour  of 
the  laws  of  persecution. 

These  riots  and  rebellions,  accompanied  as  they  generally 
were  with  clamorous  petitions  to  the  Tsar  for  the  punishment 
of  some  noble  who  was  charged  with  the  guilt  of  misgovern- 

o  o  o 

nient,  brought  about  in  the  mind  of  Alexis  a  mistrust  of  his 
subjects.  He  showed  himself  more  rarely  in  public,  he  sur- 
rounded himself  with  guards,  approach  t<»  the  precincts  of  the 
palace  was  forbidden  t<>  the  multitude,  petitions  could  no  longer 
be  presented  in  person,  and   it   is   reported  that  the  Debonair 


INTRODUCTORY.  7 

Tsar,  in  an  excess  of  terror,  once  killed  a  suppliant  who  came 
too  close  to  his  equipage.  Worst  of  all,  that  fountain  of  ills, 
the  secret  police,  sprang  up,  and  a  system  of  spies  and  denun- 
ciation was  soon  in  full  force.  The  classes  and  categories  of 
high  treason  were  rigorously  defined,  and  much  stress  was  laid 
on  the  length  and  fulness  of  the  Tsar's  title. 

An  accidental  omission  of  a  single  word  or  letter  from  this 
long  and  cumbrous  official  title — which  was  frequently  repeated 
several  times  in  the  course  of  a  document — was  considered  as 
an  act  of  personal  disrespect  to  the  prince,  almost  equal  to  high 
treason,  and  was  punished  far  more  severely  than  many  hein- 
ous crimes.1  Then  began,  too,  an  endless  dispute  with  the  rep- 
resentatives of  foreign  countries,  either  in  Moscow  or  when 
Russian  missions  were  received  at  foreign  courts,  on  the  proper 
recognition  of  the  Tsar's  title,  on  the  exact  words  to  be  em- 
ployed therein,  and  on  the  most  accurate  translation  thereof, 
together  with  complaints  of  diminution  of  title.  An  excuse 
was  found  for  a  war  with  Poland  in  '  diminution '  and  errors  in 
the  Tsar's  title  in  papers  signed  by  Polish  officials. 

The  foreign  policy  of  the  reign  of  Alexis  was  not  a  success- 
ful one.  The  Tsar  was  at  first  victorious  in  his  wars  against 
Poland  and  Sweden,  and  succeeded  in  reconquering  all  those 
provinces  inhabited  by  a  Russian  population  which  in  former 
years  had  formed  part  of  the  Russian  principalities  or  of  the 
Tsardom  of  Moscovy.     A  wrong  policy  was  pursued,  reverses 

1  The  shortest  title  of  the  Tsar  that  could  possibly  be  used,  and  which  it 
was  necessary  to  repeat  every  time  that  the  Tsar's  name  was  used  in  a  docu- 
ment, petition,  or  discourse,  was  :  '  The  Great  Lord,  Tsar,  and  Grand  Duke, 
Alexis  Michailovitch,  of  all  Great  and  Little  and  White  Russia,  Autocrat.' 
The  complete  title,  as  amplified  in  1667,  was:  'By  the  grace  of  God,  Great 
Lord,  Tsar,  and  Grand  Duke  Alexis  Michailovitch,  of  all  Great  and  Little 
a^d  White  Russia,  Autocrat ;  of  Moscow,  Kief,  Vladimir,  Novgorod ;  T^ar 
of  Kasan,  Tsar  of  Astrakhan,  Tsar  of  Siberia,  Lord  of  Pskof  and  Grand 
Duke  of  Lithuania,  Smolensk,  Tver,  Volynia,  Podolia,  Yugoria,'  Perm,  Viatka, 
Bulgaria,  and  others  ;  Lord  and  Grand  Duke  of  Novgorod  of  the  Lower  Land 
of  Tchernigof,  Riazan,  Polotsk,  Rostof,  Yaroslav,  Bieloozero,  Udoria,  Obdo- 
ria,  Condinia,  Vitebsk,  Mstislav,  and  of  all  the  northern  region  ;  ruler  and 
Lord  of  the  Iverian  Land,  of  the  Kartalinian  and  Georgian  Tsars,  and  of  the 
Kabardinian  Land,  of  the  Circassian  and  Mountaineer  Princes,  and  of  many 
other  realms  and  lands,  Eastern,  Western,  and  Northern,  Hereditary  Posses- 
sor, Successor,  Lord  and  Ruler.' 


8  PETER  THE  GREAT. 

followed,  and  an  [gnominious  peace  was  the  result.  The  only 
permanent  advantage  was  the  limited  protectorate  established 
over  that  thoroughly  Russian  and  orthodox  population  of  ad- 
venturers inhabiting  the  banks  of  the  Dnieper  known  as  the 
Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine,  who,  under  the  leadership  of  Bog- 
dan  Khmelnitzky,  had  tin-own  off  Polish  supremacy  and  ap- 
plied for  the  aid  of  their  brethren  of  Moscow. 


I. 

SECOND   MARRIAGE   OF    THE   TSAR  ALEXIS— BIRTH   OF   PETER. 

When  the  Tsar  Alexis  was  still  in  the  prime  of  manhood — 
and  it  should  be  remembered  that  he  was  jnst  two  months  older 
than  Charles  the  Second  of  England — he  lost  his  wife,  the 
Princess  Marie  Ilinitclma  Miloslavsky.  During  a  mar- 
ried life  of  barely  twenty-one  years,  she  had  given 
birth  to  thirteen  children,  several  of  whom  had  died  in  their 
infancy ;  and  she  herself  expired  in  childbed  on  the  12th  of 
March,  1669.  Three  months  later,  Simeon,  the  fourth  son, 
died  ;  and  half  a  year  afterward,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  Alexis, 
the  eldest  son  and  heir  to  the  throne.  Of  the  two  sons  still 
living,  Theodore  was  very  infirm  and  sickly ;  and  Joann,  or  Ivan, 
was  almost  blind,  had  a  defect  of  speech,  and  lacked  little  of 
being  an  idiot.  Under  the  circumstances  it  seemed  highly 
probable  to  every  one  that  the  Tsar  would  marry  again,  and  the 
parents  of  all  marriageable  girls  were  busy  preparing  them  for 
the  customary  and  traditional  inspection  of  candidates  for  the 
hand  of  the  Tsar.  All,  however,  were  doomed  to  disappoint- 
ment. 

Alexis  frequently  visited  his  chief  minister  and  tried  friend, 
Artemon  Sergheievitch  Matveief,  who  spared  nothing  to  make 
his  house  attractive  and  pleasant  to  the  Tsar,  providing  concerts 
and  other  amusements,  and  having  tragedies,  histories,  and  even 
comedies  performed  in  his  private  theatre.  This  minister,  who 
had  served  in  the  foreign  regiments,  leaned  toward  all  that 
came  from  Western  Europe,  and,  although  he  kept  the  same 
open  house,  had  adopted  different  manners  from  most  of  the 
Muscovite  aristocracy  and  officials.  The  females  of  the  family, 
dressed  in  what  were  called  German  clothes,  did  not  scruple  to 
appear  at  table  or  in  the  presence  of  visitors.     Indeed  the  wife 


10 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


of  Matv&ef  was  a  Hamilton,  one  of  a  Scotch  family  settled  at 
Moscow.  There  were  no  daughters,  but  Matveief  had  living 
with  him  a  ward,  the  daughter  of  an  old  comrade,  Cyril  !Na- 
Kshkin,  a  chamberlain  and  a  landed  proprietor  of  the  remote 
district  of  Tarns,  one  of  a  noble  but  little  known  family  of 
Tartar  origin,  several  members  of  which  had  died  in  arms  for 

their  country.    There  was  a  family 
y^^-  M  tie,  for  Theodore  Naryshkin,  the 

brother  of  Cyril,  had  also  married 
a  Hamilton,  the  niece  of  Mat- 
veiefs  wife,  under  whose  charge 
Natalia  iSTaryshkin  was  receiving 
her  education  at  Moscow — a  tall, 
shapely,  black-eyed,  black  -  haired 
girl.  One  evening,  when  the  Tsar 
was  at  Matveief's  house,  the  wife 
and  the  pretty  ward  of  the  Prime 
Minister  came  into  the  room,  bring- 
ing, as  usual,  the  cups  of  vodka, 
the  caviare,  the  smoked  fish,  and 
the  other  whets  to  the  appetite 
which  are  taken  before  the  Rus- 
sian dinner  or  supper.  The  widowed  Tsar,  in  the  depth  of  his 
grief  and  gloom,  was  struck  by  the  pretty  face,  and  still  more  by 
the  modest  smile — neither  forward  nor  too  much  abashed — and 
by  the  sensible  answers  he  received  to  his  questions.  He  ate  with 
more  than  usual  heartiness,  and  seemed  to  enjoy  the  evening,  and 
on  going  away  said  to  Matveief  that  he  would  find  a  bridegroom 
for  his  pretty  ward.  Xotice  had  already  been  served  for 
the  inspection  and  review,  on  the  11th  of  February,  of 
the  young  girls,  either  in  Moscow  or  the  distant  provinces,  whose 
position  and  beauty  rendered  them  suitable  to  be  the  Tsar's 
bride,  and  word  was  now  sent  to  Xatalia  Naryshkin  to  appear 
among  the  others.  According  to  custom,  all  the  maidens  then 
present  assembled  again  for  inspection  on  the  28th  of  April. 
Report  soon  bruited  it  about  that  Xatalia  Xaryslikin  Mas  the 
chosen  one.  This  caused  an  unpleasant  sensation  in  tin;  Krem- 
lin. The  daughters  of  the  Tsar — several  of  them  older  than 
Xatalia   Xarvshkin — objected  to  so  young  a  stepmother.     They 


Tsaritsa  Natalia,  Mother  of  Peter  the  Great. 


1670. 


THE   TSAEITSA   NATALIA.  11 

objected,  too,  for  a  more  serious  reason,  as  her  relations,  accord- 
ing to  accepted  usage,  would  immediately  come  into  court 
favour,  while  their  own,  the  Miloslavskys,  would  lose  their  po- 
sitions, and  perhaps  be  sent  into  exile.  There  was  jealousy  on 
the  part  of  many  families  of  much  higher  position  in  the  social 
and  political  world  than  the  Naryshkins,  each  one  desiring  to 
obtain  for  his  own  friends  and  adherents  the  places  which 
would  evidently  be  vacated  by  the  Miloslavskys.  The  Milo- 
slavskys themselves  would  have  preferred  a  bride  belonging  to 
some  family  which  they  could  easily  influence,  and  thus,  per- 
haps, keep  themselves  in  power.  The  opposition  to  the  choice 
of  the  Tsar  was  carried  to  such  a  length  that  there  were  fears 
of  a  repetition  of  the  scenes  which  caused  the  ruin  of  the  first 
bride  of  the  Tsar  Michael,  and  of  the  one  first  chosen  for 
Alexis  himself.  In  1616,  the  Soltykofs,  at  that  time  the  ruling 
family  at  court,  had  so  much  disliked  Marie  Khlopof,  whom 
the  young  Tsar  Michael  was  about  to  marry,  that  they  had 
drugged  her  till  she  was  ill,  representing  her  as  incurably  dis- 
eased, and  caused  her  to  be  exiled  with  all  her  family  to  Sibe- 
ria, where  she  remained  for  seven  years,  till  the  fall  of  the 
Soltykofs,  when  she  was  allowed  to  reside  at  Xizhni-]Sovgorod. 
The  Princess  Marie  Dolgoruky,  the  second  bride  of  Michael, 
had  been  suddenly  taken  ill  and  had  died  on  the  day  appointed 
for  the  marriage.  In  1617,  two  years  after  he  had  ascended  the 
throne,  Alexis  had  resolved  to  marry,  and  out  of  two  hundred 
young  girls  chose  Euphemia  Vsevolozhsky.  When  she  was  at- 
tired for  the  first  time  in  the  royal  robes,  the  ladies-in-waiting 
twisted  her  hair  so  tightly  that  she  swooned  in  the  Tsar's  pres- 
ence. The  court  pj-iysicians  were  induced  to  declare  that  she 
was  afflicted  with  epilepsy,  and  Euphemia  and  all  her  relatives 
were  exiled  to  Tinmen  in  Siberia. 

There  was  evidently  danger  for  jSTatalia  Xaryshkin. 

Only  four  days  after  the  second  inspection  two  anonymous 
letters  were  found  on  the  porches  of  the  palace,  in  which  accu- 
sations were  made  against  Matveief  of  sorcery  and  witchcraft, 
and  of  using  magic  herbs  to  attract  the  mind  of  the  Tsar  toward 
his  ward.  There  was  a  strict  investigation,  accompanied,  as  was 
then  customary,  with  torture,  and  the  contemplated  marriage 
was  put  off  for  nine  months ;  but  it  was  finally  celebrated   on 


12  PETEK   THE   GREAT. 

the  1st  of  February,  L671,  with  all  the  customary  pomp,  din- 
ners, feasts,  and  public  rejoicing,  of  which  the  Tsar  Alexis  was 
so  fond. 

In  spite  of  the  intrigues  and  dissatisfaction  of  the  elder 
daughters  of  the  Tsar  and  of  their  relatives,  the  Miloslavskys, 
everything  was  pleasant  on  the  surface;  and  all  the  young  peo- 
ple of  the  court  amused  themselves  as  usual  during  the  summer 
in  the  villas  and  palaces  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Moscow.  The 
Tsar  was  devoted  to  his  wife,  was  never  for  a  moment  without 
her,  and  even  took  her  to  his  park  of  Sokolniki,  where  he  in- 
dulged in  his  favourite  pastime  of  hawking.  To  the  delight  of 
the  people,  and  of  all  who  feared  what  might  happen  from  the 
feeble  health  of  the  two  remaining  sons  of  the  ffsar,  a  report 
was  spread,  during  the  winter,  that  the  Tsaritsa  was  pregnant — 
a  report  which  was  shortly  after  officially  confirmed ;  and  at 
about  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Thursday,  June  9,  1072 
(May  30,  and  the  festival  of  St.  Isaac  of  Dalmatia  according  to 
the  Russian  calendar)  a  son  was  born  who  was  christened  Peter, 
and  who  subsequently  became  known  as  Peter  the  Great. ' 

Messengers  were  immediately  sent  to  the  Metropolitan — for 

the  Patriarch  was  dead,  and  his  successor  had  not  yet  been 

.,,,_->  elected — to  the  other  clergy,  and  to  the  chief  monas- 
1 0  i  2  .  ,       . 

teries,  both  at  Moscow  and  Serghia-Troitsa,  to  all  the 

officials,  and  to  all  the  higher  nobility  in  Moscow.  At  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  the  great  bell  of  the  tower  of  Ivan 
Veliki  announced  the  birth  of  a  prince  and  gave  the  summons 
to  prayer.  The  Tsar  Alexis  was  exceedingly  fond  of  ceremon- 
ial display,  and  spent  much  of  his  time  in  arranging  the  details 
of  the  great  court  ceremonies,  the  receptions  of  ambassadors, 
and  the  solemn  religious  state  processions.  In  consequence  of 
the  great  delight  he  felt  at  the  birth  of  his  son,  additions  were 
made  to  the  customary  ceremonial.  A  procession,  headed  by 
the  Metropolitan  and  clergy  in  robes  of  cloth-of-gold,  with  ban- 
ner:- and  crosses  and  swinging  censers,  left  the  palace  of  the 
Kremlin  and  went  slowly  round  the  great  square  to  the  cathe- 
dral of  the  Assumption.  After  the  clergy  marched  in  due  order 
the  higher  officials  of  the  government,  the  nobility  according  to 
their  several  ranks,  and  the  colonels  of  the  army  ;  then  all  the 
members  of   the   royal  family — the   princesses,   beneath   their 


,.'■"■:■" 


BIRTH    OF    PETER 


13 


closed  canopies,  being  accompanied  by  the  wives  and  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  great  nobles ;  and  then  citizens  of  Moscow  acting  as 
deputations  from  the  merchants  and  from  the  various  classes  and 
guilds.  After  prayers  and  a  solemn  thanksgiving  service,  the 
Metropolitan  and  clergy  felicitated  the  Tsar  upon  the  birth  of 


The   Great  Bell  of  the  Tower  of  Ivan  Veli'ki. 


his  son  ;  and  then  Prince  Nicholas  of  Georgia,  advancing  with 
the  princes  of  Siberia  and  Kasimof,  who  were  living  at  Moscow 
under  the  protection  of  the  Tsar,  presented  the  congratulations  of 
the  nobles  and  the  citizens,  and  pronounced  an  address  prepared 
for  the  occasion.     From  the  cathedral  of  the  Assumption  the 


14  PETEK   THE   GREAT. 

processioD  passed  to  the  cathedral  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel, 
then  to  the  Miracle  monastery  and  to  the  monastery  of  the  As- 
cension, and  finally  to  the  cathedral  of  the  Annunciation,  the 
nearest  to  the  palace,  where  mass  was  celebrated.  On  return- 
ing to  the  palace  the  Tsar  held  a  reception  in  the  banqueting 
hall,  and  raised  the  father  of  the  Tsaritsa,  Cyril  Naryshkin,  and 
the  Prime  Minister  Matveief,  from  privy  councillors  to  the 
dignity  of  okolnitdhy,  the  highest  official  rank  but  one,  and  only 
inferior  to  that  of  a  boydr.*  An  uncle  of  the  Tsaritsa,  Theodore 
Naryshkin,  was  promoted,  with  others,  to  the  rank  of  privy 
councillor.  Then,  in  the  ante-room,  the  usual  refreshments  on 
the  birth  of  a  child  were  given  to  the  guests,  the  Tsar  with  his 
own  hands  passing  about  vodka  and  foreign  wines  to  the  nobles 
and  officials,  while  boyars,  specially  assigned  to  this  duty,  dis- 
tributed fruit  and  wines  to  the  army  officers  who  stood  without 
the  palace.  The  only  deviation  from  the  customary  feast  was 
that  the  distribution  of  confectionery,  usual  on  these  occasions, 
was  postponed  to  another  time. 

It  was  customary  to  give  a  large  state  banquet  soon  after  the 
birth  of  a  prince,  but  the  fast  of  St.  Peter  beginning  on  Mon- 
day, and  Saturday  night  being  also  the  fast  before  the  festival 
of  All  Saints,  which  the  Russians  celebrate  on  the  day  we  call 
Trinity  Sunday,  it  was  not  only  impossible  to  prepare  a  ban- 
quet of  the  usual  kind  in  two  days,  but  it  was  also  difficult  for 
the  guests  to  come  provided  with  the  customary  birth  presents. 
A  small  private  supper  was  nevertheless  given  in  the  Golden 
Hall  on  the  Sunday  to  the  boyars  alone,  it  being  understood 
that  there  were  to  be  no  personal  invitations  and  no  precedence 
at  table. 

The  Tsar  having  decided  to  give  the  name  of  Peter  to  the 
new-born  child,  the  christening  was  fixed,  after  the  fasting  pe- 

1  The  titles  of  Boydriti  and  Okblnitcliy,  given  to  the  two  highest  classes  of 
the  old  Muscovite  officials,  are  even  more  untranslatable  than  Pasha  and  Bey. 
They  were  purely  personal  and  not  hereditary  titles  ;  they  conferred  a  rank 
in  the  state,  but  brought  no  special  duties  with  them.  They  ceased  to  exist  in 
the  reign  of  Peter  the  Great.  Other  official  titles,  such  as  Dinnnol  Diak, 
Spdlny,  etc.,  which  have  likewise  been  abrogated.  I  have  made  a  shift  to 
translate  so  as  to  give  an  idea  of  their  functions.  Just  as  lately  in  Roumania, 
so  in  olden  Russia,  the  word  boyars  was  used  by  the  common  people  as  com- 
prehending all  the  nobility  and  officials. 


BIRTH   OF   PETER.  15 

riod  was  over,  for  the  Feast  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  the  29th  of 
June  (old  style),  that  is,  according  to  our  calendar,  the  9th  of 
July.  The  christening  took  place  before  mass,  in  the  Miracle 
monastery,  in  the  refectory  of  St.  Alexis,  the  miracle-worker. 
The  ceremony  was  performed  by  the  Tsar's  confessor,  Andrei 
Savmovitch,  priest  of  the  cathedral  of  the  Annunciation,  and  the 
child  was  held  at  the  font  by  Theodore  Naryshkin,  the  elder 
brother  of  the  Tsaritsa,  who  handed  it  to  the  Princess  Irene,  one 
of  the  daughters  of  the  Tsar  Michael  and  the  sister  of  Alexis. 
The  child  was  borne  to  the  church  in  a  cradle  placed  on  wheels, 
while  the  priest  most  venerated  for  his  sanctity — Nikita — sprin- 
kled the  path  with  holy  water.  On  the  next  day,  the  10th  of 
July,  which  was  Sunday,  the  clergy,  with  their  holy  pictures, 
their  crosses,  and  their  gifts,  the  boyars  and  nobles,  the  dele- 
gates from  the  merchants,  and  other  citizens,  both  from  Moscow 
and  from  the  neighbouring  towns  and  villages,  all  with  the  cus- 
tomary birth-gifts,  met  in  the  palace  for  morning  service,  after 
which  the  table  was  spread  in  the  banqueting-hall.  Banquets 
on  occasions  of  birth  differed  from  those  given  on  other  great 
occasions  in  the  palace,  especially  in  the  variety  of  the  confec- 
tionery and  wines.  The  expense  and  account-books  which  have 
come  down  to  us  show  that  on  this  occasion  the  tables  were 
fairly  loaded  with  large  pieces  of  sugar-work,  which  included 
immense  representations  of  the  Muscovite  arms ;  eagles,  swans, 
and  other  birds,  even  larger  than  life  ;  a  model  of  the  Kremlin, 
with  people  going  in  and  out,  and  also  a  large  fortress,  with  can- 
non. At  the  same  time  the  Tsaritsa  gave  a  banquet  to  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  the  boyars  in  her  private  apartments. 
Each  of  the  guests  at  these  two  banquets  received  on  departing 
a  large  plate  filled  with  sweets  of  various  kinds,  the  quantity, 
however,  proportioned  accurately  to  the  rank  of  the  guest. 
Smaller  plates  of  sweets  were  sent  to  those  notable  persons  who 
wrere  not  able  to  be  present  at  the  christening  feast.  Other 
banquets  followed  during  four  days. 

One  of  the  first  ceremonies  after  the  birth  of  a  Pussian  prince 
was  what  was  called  '  taking  his  measure  ' — that  is,  painting  the 
image  of  his  patron  saint  on  a  board  of  either  cypress  or  linden 
wood,  of  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  child.  The  measure  of 
Peter  was  taken  on  the  third  day  after  his  birth,  and  the  most 


10  PETES   THE   GREAT. 

skilful  artist  of  the  time — Simeon  ITshakof — was  ordered  to 
paint  a  picture  representing  the  Holy  Trinity,  together  with 
the  Apostle  Peter,  on  a  hoard  of  cypress  wood  nineteen  and  a 
quarter  inches  long  and  five  and  a  quarter  inches  broad.  This 
artist,  however,  was  taken  ill  and  died  before  lie  had  finished 
the  picture,  which  was  completed  by  another,  Theodore  Kozl6f. 
This  'birth-measure'  of  Peter,  as  it  is  called,  was  carefully 
preserved,  and  now  hangs  over  his  tomb  in  the  Cathedral  of 
SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  in  the  Fortress  at  St.  Petersburg. 

A  governess  was  found  for  Peter,  first  in  the  person  of  the 
Princess  Juliana  Grolftsyn,  and  subsequently  in  the  boyaVs 
wife,  Matrena  Leontief ;  and  a  nurse,  who  was  obliged  to  be  '  a 
good  and  clean  woman,  with  sweet  and  healthy  milk,'  in  Xeon- 
fla  Lvof. 

Besides  the  nurse  and  his  governess,  a  prince  in  those 
days  had  a  special  staff  of  dwarfs,  to  be  companions  and  at  the 
same  time  servants.  He  had  also  his  own  apartments.  Peter 
and  his  nurse  were  at  first  placed  in  some  small  rooms  in  the 
upper  and  wooden  part  of  the  palace,  the  walls  of  which  were 
hung  with  common  cloth.  Put  only  a  year  from  his  birth — in 
August,  1673 — we  find  orders  for  one  of  the  rooms  to  be  hung 
with  leather  stamped  with  silver,  and  a  year  later  new  apart- 
ments were  prepared,  the  walls  of  which  were  hung  with  tine 
red  cloth,  and  the  furniture  covered  with  red  and  crimson,  em- 
broidered with  yellow  and  blue.  In  1070  the  walls  and  part  of 
the  ceiling  were  decorated  with  paintings.  In  his  earliest  years 
Peter  enjoyed  all  the  luxury  which  at  that  time  surrounded  a 
prince,  and  from  which,  later  on,  he  so  readily  broke  away. 
The  curious  books  of  accounts  mention  numerous  articles  or- 
dered for  him  in  the  first  four  or  live  years  of  his  life  :  cradles, 
covered  with  gold-embroidered  Turkish  velvet,  sheets  and  pil- 
lows of  white  silk,  coverlets  of  gold  and  silver  stuffs;  caftans, 
coats,  caps,  stockings  and  shoes  of  velvet,  silk  and  satin,  em- 
broidered with  gold  and  pearls  ;  buttons  and  tassels  of  pearls 
and  emeralds  ;  a  chest  for  his  clothes,  covered  with  dark-blue 
velvet  and  ornamented  with  mother-of-pearl;  and  a  miniature 
carriage,  drawn  by  ponies,  in  which  he  was  taken  out  to  drive. 
Nor  were  playthings  of  all  kinds  wanting  ;  toy  horses,  miniature 
clavichords   and  musical   instruments    of    various   kinds,  dolls, 


BIRTH    OF    PETER.  17 

wooden  figures,  hobby-horses,  toy  carriages  and  carts,  and  a 
swing.  The  most  common  toys,  however,  were  miniature  bows 
and  arrows,  pikes,  spears,  wooden  guns,  banners,  and  all  sorts  of 
military  equipments.  But  as  military  things  were  destined  to 
play  such  an  important  part  in  Peters  military  education,  we 
shall  leave  this  subject  for  a  time. 

Physically,  Peter  developed  rapidly.  lie  was  able  to  walk 
when  six  months  old,  and  being  active,  bright,  and  intelligent, 
he  took  an  interest  in  all  that  was  going  on  around  him.  Being 
the  pet  of  his  parents,  he  constantly  accompanied  them  in  their 
excursions  and  visits  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Moscow.  In  May, 
It  175,  Matveief  presented  him  with  a  small  carriage  of  foreign 
workmanship,  drawn  by  four  small  ponies,  in  which  he  was 
driven  and  guided  by  the  court  dwarfs,  and  began  to  take  a 
part  in  the  court  and  public  processions.  An  eye-witness, 
Adolph  Lyseck,  an  Austrian  Secretary  of  Embassy,  in  describ- 
ing the  court  procession  to  the  Troi'tsa  monastery  in  September, 
1675,  says  : — 

'  Immediately  after  the  carriage  of  the  Tsar  there  appeared 
from  another  gate  of  the  palace  the  carriage  of  the  Tsaritsa. 
In  front  went  the  chamberlains  with  two  hundred  runners,  after 
which  twelve  large  snow-white  horses,  covered  with  silk  hous- 
ings, drew  the  carriage  of  the  Tsaritsa.  Then  followed  the 
small  carriage  of  the  youngest  prince,  all  glittering  with  gold, 
drawn  by  four  dwarf  ponies.  At  the  side  of  it  rode  four  dwarfs 
on  ponies,  and  another  one  behind.' 

Lyseck  in  another  place  speaks  of  his  official  presentation  to 
the  Tsar  Alexis  at  the  palace  of  Kolomensky  : — 

11  The  door  on  one  side  suddenly  opened,  and  Peter,  three 
years  old,  a  curly-headed  boy,  was  seen  for  a  moment  holding 
his  mothers  hand  and  looking  at  the  reception.  This  was  to  be 
the  great  astonishment  of  the  court/ 

The  favourite  resort  of  the  court  at  that  time  was  the  palace 
of  Preobrazhensky.  Here  Matveief  had  caused  a  small  theatre 
to  be  built  in  one  of  the  large  halls,  and  a  company  of  German 
actors  gave  comedies,  assisted  by  various  boys  and  young  people 
from  the  court  and  the  children  from  the  Mestchansky — a  quar- 
ter of  Moscow  inhabited  principally  by  Poles  from  the  western 
provinces.  The  first  play  performed  was  '  Judith ' ;  another 
Vol.  I.— 2 


IS  PETEB  THE   GREAT. 

time  the  story  of  Ksther  was  represented,  in  which  the  spectators 
thought  they  saw  references  to  contemporary  events:  Ahasu- 
erus  and  Esther  portraying  the  Tsar  and  the  Tsaritsa,  Mordecai 
being  Matveief,  and  the  wicked  Hainan  one  of  the  Miloshiv- 
skys.  We  find  mention  also  of  tlie  histories  of  '  Joseph,'  and 
'  Tobit,'  and  finally  even  plays  on  historical  subjects  not  scrip- 
tural, such  as  the  invasion  of  Tamerlane.  Usually,  after  the 
comedy,  German  musicians  gave  a  concert,  or  jugglers  per- 
formed feats  of  legerdemain.  The  comedies  sometimes  lasted 
five  or  six  hours  consecutively,  and  the  feasting  went  on  until 
morning.1 

1  The  authorities  for  the  preceding'  chapter  are,  chiefly,  Ustriajof,  History 
of  the  Reign  of  Peter  the  Great,  vol.  i. ,  St.  Petersburg,  1808;  Pogodin,  The 
First  S,  venteen  Years  of  the  Life  of  Peter  the  Great,  Moscow,  1875  ;  Solovief, 
History  of  Russia,  vol.  xiii.,  Moscow,  1870;  Esipof,  Collection  of  Extracts  from 
the  Archives  with  regard  to  Peter  the  Great,  Moscow,  1872;  Zabielin,  Essays 
on  Russian  Antiquity  and  History,  Moscow,  1873  ;  Zabielin,  Home  Life  of  the 
Russian  Tsars  and  1  saritsas,  Moscow,  1802-69  ;  Tumansky,  Collection  of  Me- 
moirs, etc.,  Relative  to  Peter  the  Great,  St.  Petersburg,  1787  ;  Palace  Archives, 
St.  Petersburg,  1852  ;  Astrof,  The  Childhood  of  Peter  the  Great,  in  Russian 
Archives  for  1875.     (All  the  above  in  Russian.) 


II. 

LIFE  AT  COURT. 

When  the  Tsar  was  in  Moscow,  life  at  court  must  have  been 
very  uniform  and  sometimes  monotonous.  Alexis  usually  rose 
at  four  o'clock,  and  after  making  his  toilet  with  the  assistance 
of  his  chamberlains  and  gentlemen  of  the  bed-chamber,  went 
immediately  into  his  oratory,  where  the  priest  and  the  deacon 
of  the  palace  chapel  awaited  him.  Here  he  remained  in  prayer 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes.  After  this  the  deacon  read  ex- 
tracts from  devotional  books  suited  to  the  day,  the  lesson  being 
most  frequently  a  portion  of  the  sermons  of  St.  John  Chrysos- 
tom.  When  the  Tsar  kissed  the  holy  picture  he  was  sprinkled 
by  the  priests  with  holy  water  which  had  been  brought  from 
some  church  or  monastery,  and  had  been  consecrated  on  the 
festival  of  the  saint  to  which  that  church  was  dedicated.  After 
these  early  devotions  the  Tsar  sent  one  of  his  chamberlains  to 
the  Tsaritsa  to  wish  her  good-morning  and  inquire  after  her 
health,  and  soon  after  went  in  person  to  visit  her.  The  Tsar 
and  the  Tsaritsa  then  went  together  to  one  of  the  palace  chapels 
and  heard  matins  and  a  short  early  mass. 

Meanwhile  the  nobles  and  courtiers  had  been  collecting  in 
the  palace  since  an  early  hour,  and  were  awaiting  in  an  ante- 
room the  entry  of  the  Tsar  from  his  private  apartments.  As 
soon  as  Alexis  appeared  they  all  bowed  many  times  and  pre- 
sented petitions  and  reports.  Some  of  the  officials  bowed  to 
the  ground  as  many  as  thirty  times  in  gratitude  for  favours  re- 
ceived. After  some  conversation  about  affairs  of  state,  the 
Tsar,  accompanied  by  all  the  nobles,  went  at  nine  o'clock  to  his 
chapel  to  hear  mass,  which  at  ordinary  times  lasted  about  two 
hours.  At  convenient  intervals  during  the  service  the  Tsar  re- 
ceived reports  from  the  various  departments  and  officials,  gave 


20  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

answers,  and  consulted  the  boyars  about  public  matters,  very 
much  as  though  lie  were  in  the  council-chamber.  On  great  fes- 
tival days,  instead  of  hearing  mass  in  the  palace  chapel,  the 
Tsar  and  his  court  went  to  one  of  the  large  cathedrals,  or  to 
some  church  or  monastery  in  which  the  festival  was  particu- 
larly celebrated.  In  this  case  there  was  a  solemn  procession,  in 
which  Alexis  displayed  all  his  accustomed  magnificence.  Al- 
though the  Tsar  had  the  habit  of  discussing  state  business  dur- 
ing divine  service,  there  was  scarcely  any  one  in  the  country  so 
pious  as  he.  Doctor  Collins,  an  Englishman,  who  was  the 
Tsars  physician  for  nine  years,  says  that  during  Lent  he  would 
stand  in  the  church  for  five  and  six  hours  at  a  time,  and  make 
as  many  as  a  thousand  prostrations — on  great  holidays  even 
fifteen  hundred. 

After  mass  the  Tsar  and  his  nobles  returned  to  the  recep- 
tion-room, where  he  continued  to  receive  reports,  which  were 
read  by  one  of  the  secretaries,  who  also  made  suggestions  to 
him  relating  to  the  proper  answers.  During  the  time  that  busi- 
ness was  being  conducted  none  of  the  nobles  in  the  reception- 
room  dared  sit  down.  Everyone,  except  the  Tsar,  remained 
standing,  although  the  boyars  frequently  went  out  into  the 
halls,  or  even  outside  into  the  courtyard,  in  order  to  sit  down 
and  rest  themselves.  At  the  regular  official  meetings  of  the 
council,  however,  the  boyars  and  all  the  officials  sat  down  in 
their  proper  places,  one  after  the  other,  according  to  their  rank, 
those  high  in  position  being  nearest  the  Tsar. 

The  business  of  state  was  usually  finished  by  twelve  o'clock, 
when  the  nobles  retired,  and  the  Tsar  went  to  his  dinner,  to 
which  he  occasionally  invited  some  of  the  more  distinguished 
boyars,  though  generally  he  ate  alone.  He  was  served  by 
nobles  of  high  position,  who  had  the  title  of  carvers,  butlers, 
en j (-bearers,  and  table-companions.  Every  dish  which  was 
brought  t<>  him  was  carefully  guarded  by  special  officials  from 
the  time  it  left  the  cook's  hands  until  it  was  placed  on  the  table. 
In  the  same  way  the  wines  and  beer  were  tasted  several  times 
before  they  reached  the  Tsar;  and  the  cup-bearer,  who  held 
the  pitcher  of  wine  constantly  in  his  hands,  tasted  it  afresh 
every  time  he  poured  out  for  the  Tsar.  The  private  table  of 
Ale.xis  was  usually  very  plain.     lie  ate  the   simplest   dishes ; 


1^  ■-■»  ^i-  ^'^sasmst 


LIFE   AT   COURT.  21 

the  bread  was  the  common  Russian  rice  bread  ;  lie  drank  only 
a  little  wine  or  light  beer,  or  sometimes  a  little  cinnamon  water, 
or  had  a  few  drops  of  oil  of  cinnamon  in  his  beer,  for  cinna- 
mon, Doctor  Collins  tells  us,  was  the  aroma  imperiale.  This, 
however,  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  his  simplicity  during 
the  fasts.     Dr.  Collins  says  : 

'  In  the  great  fasts  he  eats  but  three  meals  a  week — viz.  on 
Thursday,  Saturday,  Sunday  ;  for  the  rest,  he  takes  a  piece  of 
brown  bread  and  salt,  a  pickled  mushroom  or  cucumber,  and 
drinks  a  cup  of  small  beer.  lie  eats  fish  but  twice  in  the  great 
Lent,  and  observes  it  seven  weeks  altogether,  besides  Maslinets 
week,  wherein  they  eat  milk  and  eggs.  Out  of  the  fast  he  ob- 
serves Mondays,  "Wednesdays,  and  Fridays,  and  will  not  then 
eat  anything  that  comes  of  flesh.  In  fine,  no  monk  is  more  ob- 
servant of  canonical  hours  than  he  is  of  fasts.  We  may  reckon 
the  fasts  almost  eight  months  in  twelve,  with  the  six  weeks' 
fast  before  Christmas,  and  two  other  small  fasts.' 

On  festivals,  however,  as  many  as  seventy  dishes  were  served 
at  the  Tsar's  table,  and  nearly  all  these  were  given  away,  ac- 
cording to  custom,  as  presents  to  the  boyars.  Sometimes,  as  a 
mark  of  special  honour,  the  Tsar  would  select  his  favourite  dish 
for  some  particular  friend. 

After  dinner  the  Tsar  took  a  nap,  which  lasted  about  three 
hours,  until  vespers.  The  nobles  again  assembled  in  the 
palace  for  vespers,  and  during  the  intervals  of  the  service  the 
affairs  of  the  state  were  again  the  subject  of  conversation  and 
consultation,  which  sometimes  continued,  in  the  form  of  an 
irregular  council,  after  service,  although  as  a  general  rule  the 
time  until  supper  was  spent  by  the  Tsar  with  his  family,  or 
with  those  who  were  most  intimate  with  him. 

All  the  latter  part  of  the  day  was  given  up  to  amusement, 
Avhich  at  that  time  often  consisted  in  hearing  books  read  aloud. 
Most  of  these  books  were  of  an  ecclesiastical  character,  and  re- 
lated either  to  sacred  or  church  history,  to  religious  dogmas,  or 
to  the  lives  of  the  saints.  The  Tsars  were  frequently  among 
the  most  learned  men  of  their  age  in  theology  and  church  his- 
tory, and  the  most  notable  example  in  this  respect  was  Ivan 
the  Terrible.  Alexis  was  very  fond,  too,  of  having  some  one  to 
read  to  him  passages  from  the  old  chronicles  of  the  Empire  and 


22  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

extracts  from  the  reports  of  his  ambassadors  abroad,  and  had 
translated  for  him  the  cov/rd/nts,  or  newspapers,  then  published 
in  Western  Europe.  Besides  these  he  loved  stories  of  travel 
and  of  life  in  foreign  parts  and  in  remote  regions  of  Bussia,  and 
kept  in  the  palace,  under  the  name  of  pilgrims  and  beadsmen,  a 
number  of  old  men  who  had  wandered  far  and  seen  much,  and 
who  had  the  gift  of  telling  in  lively  style  what  they  had  seen 
and  passed  through.  The  dryness  of  official  history  was  in 
this  way  relieved  by  anecdotes  and  sketches  taken  from  life. 
The  Tsar  had  great  respect  for  these  beadsmen,  and  when  one 
of  them  died  he  was  buried  with  a  considerable  amount  of 
pomp  and  ceremony  in  the  church  of  the  Trinity  hostelry,  the 
Tsar  himself  attending  the  funeral.  Alexis  was  also  fond  of 
various  games — draughts,  backgammon,  and  especially  chess ; 
and  frequently  had  spectacles  of  various  kinds,  such  as  wrest- 
ling matches  and  other  contests,  in  the  hall  specially  devoted  to 
that  purpose.  During  the  winter  he  occasionally  visited  a  bear 
fight.  He  was  fond,  too,  of  inspecting  the  work  of  jewellers, 
armourers,  and  other  handicraftsmen,  which  was  brought  to  the 
palace.  Of  out-door  sports  he  especially  affected  hawking,  and 
when  he  went  to  Sokolniki,  one  of  his  favourite  resorts  for  this 
kind  of  amusement,  the  whole  order  of  things  was  changed. 
In  general,  during  his  visits  to  the  country  he  paid  less  atten- 
tion to  the  affairs  of  the  state,  was  less  strict  in  his  religious  ex- 
ercises, and  devoted  far  more  of  his  time  to  amusement. 

The  Muscovite  ideal  of  woman,  founded  on  the  teachings 
and  traditions  of  Byzantine  theology,  was  purely  a  monastic 
one.  The  virtues  of  the  cloister,  faith,  prayer,  charity,  obedi- 
ence, and  industry,  were  the  highest  virtues  of  a  woman,  and 
the  life  of  the  cloister  was  best  suited  to  preserve  her  purity. 
Socially,  woman  was  not  an  independent  being ;  she  was  an  in- 
ferior creation,  dependent  on  her  husband,  for  except  as  a  wife 
her  existence  was  scarcely  recognized.  Of  this  theoretical  posi- 
tion of  woman  abundant  proof  is  given  in  all  the  early  didactic 
literature  of  Russia,  and  especially  in  the  '  Domostroi',1  that 
eurious  manual  of  household  economy  written  in  the  time  of 
Ivan  the  Terrible.  The  wife  should  be  blindly  obedient  in  all 
things,  and  fur  her  faults  should  be  severely  whipped,  though 
not  in  anger.     Her  duty  was  to  keep  the  house,  to  look  after 


LIFE   AT   COURT.  23 

the  food  and  clothing,  and  to  see  to  the  comfort  of  her  hus- 
band ;  to  bear  children,  but  not  to  educate  them.  Severity  was 
inculcated,  and  to  play  with  one's  children  was  esteemed  a  sin 
— a  snare  of  the  devil.  The  wife  was  bound  to  stay  chiefly  at 
home,  and  to  be  acquainted  with  nothing  but  her  household 
work.  To  all  questions  on  outside  matters  she  was  to  answer 
that  she  did  not  know.  It  was  believed  that  an  element  of  evil 
lurked  in  the  female  sex,  and  even  the  most  innocent  sport  be- 
tween little  boys  and  girls,  or  social  intercourse  between  young 
men  and  women,  was  severely  reprehended.  The  '  Domostroi,' 
and  even  Pososhkof,  as  late  as  the  eighteenth  century,  recom- 
mended a  father  to  take  his  cudgel  and  break  the  ribs  of  his 
son,  whom  he  found  jesting  with  a  girl.  Traces  of  this  feeling 
with  regard  to  women  are  still  found  in  current  proverbs.  '  A 
woman's  hair  is  long,  her  understanding  is  short,'  runs  one 
proverb;  "The  wits  of  a  woman  are  like  the  wildness  of 
beasts,'  says  another ;  while  a  third  says :  '  As  a  horse  by  the 
bit,  so  must  a  woman  be  governed  by  threats.'  The  collections 
of  popular  stories  and  anecdotes  are  full  of  instances  of  the  in- 
nate wickedness  and  devilishness  of  the  female  sex,  with  refer- 
ences to  all  the  weak  or  wicked  women  of  sacred  and  profane 
history.  In  the  '  Great  Mirror,'  compiled  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  we  even  find  the  obstinacy  of  women  exemplified  by 
the  well-known  anecdote  of  the  drowning  woman  still  making 
with  her  fingers  the  sign  of  '  scissors.' 

Although  this  was  the  theoretical  position  of  woman  in 
Ttussian  society,  practically  in  small  households,  where  women 
were  important  factors,  there  were  great  divergencies  from  the 
strict  rules  of  the  '  Domostro'i.'  In  the  higher  ranks  of  life  the 
women  were  more  carefully  guarded  and  restrained,  and  in  the 
family  of  the  Tsar  the  seclusion  in  the  Terem,  or  women's 
apartments,  was  almost  complete.  This  was  in  part  due  to  a 
superstitious  belief  in  witchcraft,  the  evil  eye,  and  charms  that 
might  affect  the  life,  health,  or  fertility  of  the  royal  race. 
jSTeither  the  Tsaritsa  nor  the  princesses  ever  appeared  openly  in 
public  ;  they  never  went  out  except  in  a  closed  litter  or  car- 
riage ;  in  church  they  stood  behind  a  veil — made,  it  is  true, 
sometimes  of  gauze — and  they  usually  timed  their  visits  to  the 
churches  and  monasteries  for  the  evening  or  the  early  morning, 


24  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

and  on  these  occasions  no  one  was  admitted  except  the  immediate 
attendants  of  the  court.  Von  Meyerberg,  Imperial  ambassador 
at  Moscow  in  1663,  writes,  that  out  of  a  thousand  courtiers, 
there  will  hardly  be  found  one  who  can  boast  that  he  has  seen 
the  Tsaritsa,  or  any  of  the  sisters  or  daughters  of  the  Tsar. 
Even  their  physicians  are  not  allowed  to  see  them.  When  it  is 
necessary  to  call  a  doctor  for  the  Tsaritsa,  the  windows  are  all 
darkened,  and  he  is  obliged  to  feel  her  pulse  through  a  piece  of 
gauze,  so  as  not  to  touch  her  bare  hand !  Even  chance  en- 
counters were  severely  punished.  In  1674,  two  chamberlains, 
Dashkof  and  Buturlin,  on  suddenly  turning  a  corner  in  one  of 
the  interior  courts  of  the  palace,  met  the  carriage  of  the  Tsaritsa 
Natalia,  who  was  going  to  prayers  at  a  convent.  Their  col- 
leagues succeeded  in  getting  out  of  the  way.  Dashkof  and  Bu- 
turlin were  arrested,  examined,  and  deprived  of  their  offices, 
but  as  the  encounter  was  proved  to  be  purely  fortuitous  and 
unavoidable,  they  were  in  a  few  days  restored  to  their  rank. 
And  yet,  this  was  during  the  reign  of  Alexis,  who  was  far  less 
strict  than  his  predecessors. 

The  Tsar  Basil  had  married  a  Polish  princess,  Helena  Glin- 
ska,  and  during  her  lifetime — especially  during  the  minority  of 
her  son,  Ivan  the  Terrible — Polish  and  Western  usages  crept 
into  the  court.  The  so-called  False  Dimitri  was  eminently  lib- 
eral-minded, and  disposed  to  accept  foreign  habits,  and  had  he 
reigned  longer,  a  much  freer  life  would  doubtless  have  prevailed 
at  the  Court  of  Moscow ;  but  he  was  murdered  very  soon  after 
his  marriage  with  the  Polish  Marie  Mnishek.  Then,  with 
the  re-establishment  of  a  national  dynasty — in  the  Romanofs 
— came  a  reaction  in  an  ultra-national  sense.  It  could  hardly 
be  otherwise  ;  the  father  of  the  Tsar  Michael  was  the  Patriarch, 
and  his  mother,  who  had  great  influence  over  the  young  Tsar 
and  long  kept  him  in  leading-strings,  was  a  nun,  both  having 
been  forced  into  monastic  life  during  the  Troublous  Times. 
The  ascetic  type  of  woman  prevailed.  Of  this  type  the  wife  of 
the  boyar  Morozof,  the  great  minister  of  the  early  part  of  the 
reign  of  Alexis,  was  a  model  and  pattern.  In  the  latter  part  of 
this  reign  foreign  customs  began  again  to  edge  in,  owing  in  part 
to  the  annexation  of  Kief  and  Little  Iiussia,  and  to  the  influx 
of  teachers  educated  after  Polish  and  Western  standards,  to  the 


LIFE   AT   COURT.  25 

greater  intercourse  with  the  West  of  Europe,  and  in  part  to  the 
increasing  influence  of  the  '  German  Suburb '  or  foreign  colony 
at  Moscow.     Of  this  last  we  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  again. 

At  this  time  there  were  a  dozen  princesses  living  in  the  pal- 
ace— the  sisters,  the  aunts,  and  the  six  daughters  of  the  Tsar 
Alexis.  All  were  unmarried.  It  was  beneath  the  dignity  of 
the  Tsar  to  bestow  his  daughters  hand  upon  a  subject,  and  dif- 
ferences of  religion  and  ignorance  of  the  languages  and  manners 
of  other  countries  prevented  marriages  with  foreign  princes. 
Since  the  Tartar  invasion  only  two  attempts  had  been  made  to 
marry  a  Russian  princess  to  a  foreigner.  Boris  Godunof  wished 
to  marry  his  daughter  Xenia  to  the  Danish  Prince  John, 
brother  of  King  Christian  IV.,  but  the  bridegroom  died  of  a 
fever  soon  after  his  arrival  in  Russia  in  1602.  The  marriage  of 
Irene,  the  daughter  of  the  Tsar  Michael,  with  the  Danish 
Prince  Woldemar,  a  natural  son  of  Christian  IV.,  was  never 
consummated  on  account  of  the  refusal  of  "Woldemar  to  change 
his  religion,  although  it  had  been  expressly  stipulated  in  the 
marriage  contract  that  he  should  not  be  obliged  to  do  so.  The 
prince  was  kept  a  prisoner  in  Moscow  until  the  death  of  the 
Tsar,  when  he  was  allowed  to  return  to  Denmark.  It  is  an  in- 
direct evidence  of  the  manners  of  the  princesses,  that  the  Rus- 
sian envoy  at  Copenhagen,  in  recounting  the  good  qualities  of 
Irene,  praised  her  particularly  for  never  getting  drunk. 

All  these  princesses  of  the  family  of  Alexis  had  been  brought 
up  in  the  old  style  and  with  the  old  prejudices.  None,  except 
Sophia — who  had  shared  the  lessons  of  her  brother  Theodore, 
under  the  learned  Polish  monk  Simeon  Polotsky — had  more 
than  the  rudiments  of  an  education,  or  knew  any  language  but 
their  own.  When  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  Xaryshkin,  who  had  been 
brought  up  by  the  wife  of  Matveief,  a  Scotchwoman,  and  had 
seen  something  of  society,  entered  the  palace,  it  gave  a  shock, 
and  her  words  and  acts  were  criticised  and  disapproved.  She 
was  received  much  as  a  young  Catholic  stepmother  would  be  by 
a  large  household  composed  of  spinsters  brought  up  with  the 
strictest  Presbyterian  notions.  One  of  her  very  first  acts — to 
raise  the  corner  of  her  carriage  curtain  so  as  to  see  the  crowd 
— provoked  such  a  storm  in  the  household  that  she  was  obliged 
for  a  long  time  to  be  very  rigid  in  her  conformity  to  the  palace 


2G  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

etiquette.  But  as  time  went  on  the  observance  of  old  forms 
became  more  lax.  The  Tsaritsa  shared  the  amusements  of  the 
Tsar.  In  going  to  and  from  the  country,  and  even  once  in  a 
state  procession,  she  rode  in  an  uncovered  carriage  with  the 
Tsar  and  one  or  two  of  the  children.  She  saw  the  plays  in  the 
palace  theatre  from  a  latticed  box,  and  witnessed  ceremonies 
and  festivities  from  the  corner  of  some  convenient  gallery. 
Lyseck  says  that  the  reception  of  his  ambassador  took  place  at 
Kolomensky  solely  that  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  might  see  it  more  easily, 
and  that  the  procession  was  made  to  go  slowly  past  the  window 
where  she  sat,  that  she  might  have  more  time  to  observe  it. 
She  went  openly  to  church,  together  with  the  Tsar,  on  occasion 
of  the  visit  of  the  Patriarchs  Paisius  and  M acarius ;  and  in 
1675,  at  the  procession  of  Holy  Thursday,  when  the  Patriarch 
rode  through  the  Kremlin  on  an  ass,  which  the  Tsar  led  by  the 
bridle,  he  turned  and  blessed  the  Tsaritsa  and  the  princesses, 
who  were  posted  at  the  windows  of  the  banqueting-hall. 

The  household  of  the  Tsar  was  organised  like  that  of  any 
great  noble,  though  on  a  larger  scale.  Of  the  women's  part  the 
Tsaritsa  was  nominally  the  head.  She  had  to  attend  to  her  own 
wardrobe,  which  took  no  little  time,  and  oversee  that  of  her 
husband  and  her  children,  and  had  under  her  direction  a  large 
establishment  of  sewing  women.  She  must  receive  petitions 
and  attend  to  cases  of  charity.  She  must  provide  husbands  and 
dowries  for  the  many  young  girls  about  her  court,  and  then 
keep  a  constant  look-out  for  their  interests  and  those  of  their 
families.  She  had,  too,  her  private  estates,  the  accounts  of 
which  she  audited,  and  the  revenues  of  which  she  collected  and 
expended.  What  little  time  was  left  from  household  cares  and 
religious  duties  could  be  spent  in  talk,  in  listening  to  stories  and 
songs,  in  laughing  at  the  jests  of  the  court  fools,  in  looking  at 
the  amusements  of  the  girls  in  the  play-hall,  or  in  embroidering 
towels  and  napkins,  robes  for  the  Tsar  and  princes,  and  altar- 
cloths  and  vestments  for  the  church.1 

1  See  Zabielin.  Home  Life  of  the  Russian  Tsars  and  Tsaritsas  (Russian), 
Moscow,  1862,  1869 ;  Samuel  Collins,  The  Present  State  of  Russia,  London, 
1671  ;  Meyerberg,  Voyage  en  Moscovie.  Leyden,  1688;  A.  Bruckner,  Zur 
Geschichte  der  didaktischen  Literatur  in  Rus&land,  and  Die  Frauenfrage  in 
Russland,  in  the  Russische  Revue,  for  1876  and  1879  ;  the  Domostroi  (Russian), 
St.  Petersburg,  1867. 


A  PEASANT  GIRL   IN  ANCIENT  RUSSIAN    DRESS. 


III. 

DEATH  OF  ALEXIS.— GREAT  CHANGES. -PETER'S  CHILDHOOD. 

The  eldest  Tsarevitch,  Theodore,  had  in  the  earlier  part  of 
1671  been  declared  to  be  of  full  age,  and  had  therefore  been 
recognised  as  heir  to  the  throne,  and  the  Tsar  had  presented 
him  as  such  both  to  his  subjects  and  to  the  foreigners  at  Mos- 
cow. His  health,  however,  was  so  delicate  that  few  expected 
that  he  would  ultimately  reach  the  throne.  The  only  other 
living  son  by  the  first  marriage,  Joann,  or  Ivan,1  seemed  from 
his  infirmities  incapable  of  reigning ;  and  nearly  every  one  be- 
lieved that  the  future  successor  of  Alexis  would  be  Peter. 
Matveief  in  all  probability  was  convinced  of  this ;  and  as  the 
Tsar  Alexis  at  this  time  was  only  forty-seven,  and  was  in  robust 
health,  he  allowed  events  to  take  their  natural  course,  making 
no  effort  to  grasp  at  the  succession  for  his  protege.  Suddenly, 
in  February,  1676,  the  Tsar  died.  On  Epiphany,  1676,  ^ 
according  to  custom,  he  had  taken  part  with  all  the  usual 
ceremony  in  the  procession  for  the  blessing  of  the  river 
Moskva.  On  the  name's-day  of  his  sister  Tatiana,  he  had  gone 
to  mass  and  presented  the  boyars  with  the  usual  name's-day 
pasties,  filled  then  as  now  with  fish.  On  January  27  there  had 
been  at  the  palace  a  representation  of  a  comedy,  followed  by  a 
concert,  but  the  Tsar,  feeling  unwell,  retired  during  the  per- 
formance and  went  to  bed.  His  illness  did  not  seem  in  the 
least  dangerous,  but  still  increased,  and  ten  days  after — Feb- 
ruary 8 — he  died,  after  having  given  his  formal  benediction  to 
Theodore,  who  was  at  that  time  fourteen  years  old.  In  all 
probability  it  needed  no  particular  efforts  on  the  part  of  the 
daughters  of  Alexis  to  bring  their  father  to  consecrate  the 

1  Ivan  is  the  popular,  Joann  the  solemn  and  official  form  of  the  name. 


28 


PETEB   THE   GREAT. 


XI 


birthright  of  his  eldest  son  by  his  blessing.  The  right  of  sue- 
cession  to  the  throne  was  not  strictly  fixed  by  law,  but  in  all 
Russian  families  the  eldest  son  succeeded  to  the  father  as  head 
of  the  household,  and  Theodore,  moreover,  had  the  advantage 
of  possession,  having  been  previously  formally  and  publicly 
proclaimed  the  heir.  The  hopes  of  Matveief  and  the  Xarysh- 
kins  rested  not  so  much  on  the  fitness  of  Peter,  for  his  brilliant 
qualities  were  not  yet  developed,  and  lie-had  little  more  than 
good  health  to  recommend  him,  as  on  the  debility  of  Theodore 
and  Ivan,  who,  they  thought,  would  both  die  long  before  the 

Tsar,  their  father.  The  story 
that  Matveief  endeavoured 
by  a  coup  d'etat  to  set  aside 
Theodore  in  favour  of  Peter, 
is  a  rumour  reported  by  a 
badly-informed  Polish  diplo- 
mat, devoid  of  foundation 
and  disproved  by  events. 

After  the  burial  of  Alexis 
and  the  coronation  of  Theo- 
dore, everything  about  the 
court  was  changed.  The 
^saryshkins  went  into  retire- 
ment, and  the  Miloskivskys 
came  again  into  power.  At 
first  this  had  but  slight  effect 
on  public  affairs,  but  a  few 
months  later  the  minister 
Matveief,  who  was  the  most 
dangerous  rival  and  antago- 
nist of  the  Miloslavskys,  was  suddenly  banished,  and  appointed 
governor  of  Yerkhoturie,  in  the  northernmost  part  of  Siberia. 
Matveief',  however,  had  not  succeeded  in  sailing  up  the  Volga  to 
Leshef,  the  place  where  the  great  Siberian  road  leaves  the  river, 
when  he  was  overtaken  with  the  news  that  he  was  accused  of  an 
intention  to  overthrow  the  Tsar,  of  dealing  with  evil  spirits,  and  of 
the  study  of  magic  and  witchcraft,  by  means  of  a  black  book  filled 
with  ciphers  (which  in  the  end  turned  out  to  be  an  algebra  for 
the  use  of  his  son).     He  was  judged  almost  as  soon  as  accused, 


Tsar  Theodore   (Half- Brother  of  Peter). 


peter's  education.  29 

was  deprived  of  all  his  property  and  honours,  and  was  exiled  as  a 
state  criminal,  to  live  in  the  wild  and  distant  place  of  Pustozersk, 
in  the  province  of  A  rchangel.  At  the  same  time  two  of  the  Tsar- 
itsa's  brothers,  Ivan  and  Athanasius  ^Xaryshkin,  were  sent  into 
exile ;  others  of  her  friends  were  removed  from  Moscow,  and 
she  and  her  children — for  a  daughter,  Xatalia,  named  after  her 
mother,  had  been  born  in  1673,  while  a  second  daughter,  Theo- 
dora, had  died  in  her  infancy — were  placed  in  a  most  disagree- 
able and  uncomfortable  position.  They  were  sent  away  from 
the  palace  of  the  Kremlin  to  live  at  Preobrazhensky,  a  favourite 
villa  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  amid  fields  and  groves,  on  the  river 
Yaiiza,  about  three  miles  from  the  centre  of  Moscow.  What, 
however,  at  first  seemed  a  misfortune,  turned  out  to  be  an  ad- 
vantage. The  freer  life  of  the  country,  even  though  accom- 
panied by  a  narrow  income  and  many  unpleasant  circumstances, 
was  better  for  the  development  of  Peter  than  the  formal  life  at 
Moscow  would  have  been.  Xatalia  felt  at  first  that  there  was 
danger  of  Peter  becoming  a  second  Dimltri  of  Uglitch — that 
unfortunate  son  of  Ivan  the  Terrible,  who  was  murdered  in  the 
reign  of  his  brother,  Theodore,  by  order  of  Boris  Godunof ;  but 
this  Theodore  was  of  a  mild  disposition,  and  at  this  time  the 
life  of  a  prince  was  still  held  sacred. 

The  education  given  to  the  Russian  upper  classes  at  this 
period  seldom  consisted  of  anything  more  than  reading,  writing, 
and  singing  by  note,  with  some  ideas  of  history,  geography,  and 
of  the  productions  of  the  earth,  conveyed  by  means  of  picture- 
books  :  but  instruction  in  grammar,  in  mathematics — even  in 
arithmetic — or  in  the  higher  branches  of  learning,  was  exceed- 
ingly rare,  except  among  the  clergy.  A  high  school,  at  which 
Greek  and  Latin  were  taught  was  in  existence  at  Kief,  bnt 
Kief  had  only  just  been  re-conquered  from  the  Poles,  and  Mas 
not  then  definitively  part  of  .Russia.  Although  the  influence 
which  this  school  exercised  was  gradually  felt  at  Moscow,  the 
Moscow  school,  on  a  similar  plan,  was  not  started  until  the 
reign  of  Theodore.  Even  the  princes  of  the  royal  house  re- 
ceived scarcely  anything  more  than  this  elementary  education. 
Theodore  had  been  exceptionally  brought  up  by  the  learned 
monk,  Simeon  Polotsky,  and  could  speak  Polish  and  Latin.  So 
also  could  his  sister  Sophia.     The  example  of  the  court  and  the 


30  PETER  THE  GREAT. 

adoption  of  Polish  maimers  and  usages  began  to  affect  the  aris- 
tocracy, and  several  families  at  that  time  had  Polish  teachers 
for  their  children.  But  so  restricted  was  this  influence  that,  at 
a  time  when  every  Polish  and  Hungarian  gentleman  conversed 
familiarly  in  Latin,  Prince  Pasil  Golitsyn  was,  according  to 
De  Xeuville,  an  exception  among  Bussian  statesmen.  The  son 
of  Matveief,  who  had  been  accompanied  in  his  exile  by  his 
teacher,  had  few  equals  in  attainments  among  Peter's  comrades. 

It  is  probable  that  such  an  elementary  education  was  all 
Peter  would  have  received  had  circumstances  not  interrupted 
his  earlier  studies  and  changed  the  bent  of  his  mind.  A  pic- 
ture-book was  ordered  to  be  prepared  by  one  of  the  Moscow 
artists  for  him  when  he  was  only  a  year  old ;  an  alphabet  or 
primer  was  given  him  on  December  6,  1CT5,  while  his  father 
was  still  alive,  and  the  next  day  prayers  were  said  for  his  suc- 
cess in  his  studies,  in  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas  Gostiin,  as  was 
customary  in  Russia  at  that  time  when  a  child  first  began  to  be 
taught.  Peter  had  preceded  by  a  few  days  the  period  fixed  by 
usage  for  beginning  a  boy's  education — the  feast  of  the  prophet 
Kahum. 

Soon  after  Theodore  ascended  the  throne,  he  appointed  as 
teacher  for  Peter,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  privy-coun- 
cillor, Theodore  Sokovin,  a  scribe  from  the  Bureau  of  Petitions, 
Xikita  Moiseievitch  Zotof,  a  man  enjoying  a  high  reputation 
for  his  learning  and  morality.  The  Psalter,  the  Gospels,  the 
Hours  were  the  books  from  which,  like  other  boys  of  his  age, 
Peter  was  taught.  Besides  learning  to  read,  he  acquired  much 
by  heart,  and  was  able,  even  at  a  later  period  of  his  life,  to  re- 
cite many  passages  from  the  Scriptures.  Apparently  he  learned 
to  write  late,  for  the  first  copy-books  of  which  we  find  mention 
were  not  given  out  until  16S0,  when  he  was  already  seven  years 
old,  and  his  handwriting  was  always  extremely  bad.  At  the 
same  time  he  learned  singing  by  note — an  acquirement  which 
in  later  years  frequently  afforded  him  amusement,  when  in 
country  churches  he  would  enter  the  chancel  and  join  the  choir. 

Zotof,  like  a  skilful  teacher,  interspersed  his  instructions  with 
amusement,  and  by  a  plentiful  supply  of  picture-books,  most 
of  which  were  specially  written  and  illuminated  for  Peter,  and 
by  what  were  then  called  '  Frank  leaves' — that  is,  German  and 


peter's  education.  31 

Italian  engravings  and  wood-cuts — succeeded  gradually  in  giv- 
ing Lis  pupil  a  general  knowledge  of  Russian  history,  of  the 
deeds  of  the  heroes  of  early  times,  of  the  reigns  and  wars  of  the 
previous  Tsars,  and  some  notions  of  the  course  of  events  in  an- 
tiquity as  well  as  in  later  Europe,  besides  a  rude  idea  of  natural 
history. 

In  this  way,  between  study  and  play,  Peter's  life  passed  on 
quietly  and  uneventfully  for  the  six  years  of  the.  reign  of  Theo- 
dore, the  greater  part  of  which  was  spent  at  Preobrazhensky. 
Although  away  from  the  immediate  intrigues  of  the  court,  yet 
rumours  and  agitations  reached  her  country  abode,  and  the  Tsar- 
itsa  Xatalia  could  never  be  sure  what  was  in  store  for  her  and 
her  children. 

Peter  doubtless  often  heard  from  his  mother  much  sad  talk 
of  what  she  thought  their  wrongs  and  their  uncomfortable  posi- 
tion, much  criticism  of  people  in  power ;  many  regrets  for  her 
protector,  Matveief,  with  longings  for  what  seemed  to  her  im- 
possible— his  return.  Boys  of  Peter's  age  are  quick  and  intelli- 
gent. They  keep  their  ears  and  eyes  open,  and  they  are  ever 
ready  with  questions.  Xo  doubt  Peter  asked  many,  and  they 
were  answered.  The  impressions  which  were  then  made  on 
him  were  deep,  and  would  have  sufficed  greatly  to  influence  his 
subsequent  life,  even  without  the  events  that  followed.1 

'See  Solovief,  xiii.,  ch.  2;  TJstrialof,  i.,  ch.  1  ;  Pogodin,  pp.  15-29;  Esi- 
pof;  Astrof;  Matveief  s  Memoirs ;  History  of  the  Causeless  Imprisonment  of 
the  Boyar  Matveief. 


IV. 

COURT     INTRIGUES.  —  DEATH    OF      THEODORE.  —  ELECTION    OF 

PETER. 

After  Theodore  ascended  the  throne,  the  chief  personage 
in  the  state,  who  had  almost  supreme  power,  and  who  took 
upon  himself  the  supervision  of  all  the  departments  of  govern- 
ment, was  Ivan  Michailovitch  Miloshivsky,  a  cousin  of  Theo- 
dore's mother.  He  was  supported  by  the  whole  of  the  family 
influence,  and  had  been  recalled  from  Astrakhan,  where,  nom- 
inally governor,  he  had  been  practically  an  exile.  His  insolent 
manners  made  him  many  enemies,  even  outside  the  Xaryshkin 
party,  which  was  naturally  disposed  against  him.  The  Milo- 
slavskys were  not  among  the  number  of  the  old  and  distin- 
guished families.  Dr.  Collins  says :  '  Eliah,  the  present  emper- 
our's  father-in-law,  was  of  so  mean  account,  that  within  this 
twenty  years  he  drew  wine  to  some  English  men,  and  his 
daughter  gather'd  mushrooms  and  sold  them  in  the  market.' 
The  Registers  of  Services  show  no  entry  that  the  family  had 
ever  benefited  the  state  or  taken  part  in  public  affairs  until  the 
marriage  of  Alexis.  During  their  twenty  years'  lease  of  power 
the  Miloslavskys  had  been  arrogant  and  self-willed.  They  had 
not  conciliated  the  old  nobility,  and  now  the  descendants  of 
Riirik  were  almost  in  open  opposition.  Among  the  discontented 
were  Bogdan  Hitrovo,  Master  of  the  Ordnance,  who  had  been 
much  in  the  confidence  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  and  his  friend, 
Prince  Yiiry  Dolgoriiky,  a  powerful  nobleman  and  chief  of  the 
Streltsi,  or  Xational  Guard,  neither  of  whom  had  been  taken 
into  the  councils  of  the  new  sovereign. 

One  way  which  this  party  took  of  weakening  the  power  of 
the  Miloslavskys  M*as  by  getting  young  men  devoted  to  their 
interests  into  place  at  court,  and  especially  into  positions  of  con- 


COURT  INTRIGUES.  33 

fidence  near  the  Tsar,  thinking  that  they  could  thus  gradually  ob- 
tain an  influence  over  him  which  could  be  used  for  their  benefit. 
They  particularly  put  forward  in  this  way  Ivan  Yazykof  and  the 
two  brothers  Likhatchef.  Whatever  the  original  feelings  of 
these  young  men  may  have  been  toward  their  supporters,  they 
soon  acquired  such  power  over  the  good-natured  but  weak- 
minded  Tsar  that  they  resolved  to  employ  it  rather  for  their 
own  benefit  than  for  that  of  those  who  had  raised  them  to  place. 
In  order  to  increase  their  influence  they  determined  to  marry 
the  Tsar  into  some  family  connected  with  or  devoted  to  their 
interest,  and  chose  Agatha  Grushetsky,  a  niece  of  the  privy- 
councillor  Simeon  Zborofsky,  a  nobleman  of  Polish  origin. 
They  managed  to  give  the  Tsar  a  sight  of  the  young  lady  dur- 
ing a  church  procession,  and  Theodore,  who  was  then  only 
eighteen,  was  so  pleased  with  her  appearance  that  he  resolved 
to  marry  her.  At  this  there  was  a  great  outcry  on  the  part  of 
his  sisters,  wTho  were  jealous  of  new  members  coming  into  the 
family,  and  there  was  opposition  by  Ivan  Miloslavsky,  who  felt 
his  influence  on  the  wane. 

A  report  wTas  therefore  presented  to  Theodore  containing 
grave  accusations  against  her  and  her  mother.  The  falsity  of 
these  was  immediately  shown  by  Yazykof  and  the  Likhatchefs, 
and  Miloslavsky  was  prohibited  from  appearing  at  court ;  al- 
though after  the  marriage,  which  took  place  on  July  28,  1680, 
this  prohibition  was  removed  at  the  request  of  the  Tsaritsa. 
Yet.  he  lost  all  power  and  influence.  Yazykof  was  promoted  to 
the  grade  of  oJiolnitehy,  and  received  the  position  of  Master  of 
the  Ordnance  in  place  of  his  old  patron  Ilitrovo,  while 
the  Likhatchefs  became  chamberlains.  The  power  thus 
obtained  lasted  but  a  short  time,  for  the  Tsaritsa  died  in  child- 
bed on  July  24,  1681,  and  was  followed  in  a  few  days  by  her 
new-born  son. 

This  event  was  a  terrible  blow  to  the  favourites,  for  the  health 
of  Theodore  was  so  delicate,  that  in  case  of  his  death  they  would 
find  themselves  face  to  face  with  the  Miloslavsky  party  and  the 
princesses,  sisters  of  Theodore,  and  would  run  great  danger  of 
exile  if  not  of  death.  They  had  alienated  their  own  supporters, 
Hitrovo  and  Dolgoriiky  and  their  friends,  and  therefore  had  no 
resource  except  to  try  to  make  up  to  the  Naryshkin  party  and 
Vol.  I.— 3 


34 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


the  adherents  of  Peter.  With  this  view,  and  in  spite  of  opin- 
ions of  the  physicians  as  to  his  health,  they  proceeded  to  counsel 
Theodore  to  marry  again.  This  time  they  proposed  to  him 
.Martha  Apraxin,  the  god-daughter  of  the  ex-minister  Matveief, 
a  girl  of  fourteen  years.  The  first  meeting  that  favoured  this 
idea  took  place  in  December  of  that  year  ;  and  the  chosen  bride 
(as  no  doubt  she  had  been  instructed)  immediately  asked  the 
Tsar  to  alleviate  the  fate  of  her  god-father  Matveief,  who,  up 
to  this  time,  had  vainly  written  petitions  showing  his  innocence. 
The  sentence  was  quashed  ;  the  property  and  estates  of  Mat- 
veief were  returned  to  him, 
and  in  addition,  he  was  given 
the  village  of  Landekh,  and 
was  commanded  to  wait  for 
further  orders  at  the  town  of 
Lukh,  near  Kostroma,  on  the 
Yolga. 

But  these  orders  were  not 
to  come  from  Theodore,  who 
had  become  feebler  from  day 
to  day,  and  who  died 
two  months  and  a  half 
after  his  second  marriage,  on 
May  7,  1682.  The  death  of 
Theodore  left  two  possible 
candidates  for  the  throne  : 
Ivan,  the  elder  brother,  the 
son  of  the  Tsar  Alexis  by  his 
first  wife,  Marie  Miloslavsky, 
blind,  lame,  and  half  idiotic  ;  and  the  son  of  Xatalia  Xaryshkin, 
the  strong,  healthy,  and  clever  Peter.  Although  there  was  no  law 
regulating  the  succession  to  the  throne,  except  that  it  should  be 
hereditary  in  the  Pomanof  family,  yet  primogeniture  was  conse- 
crated by  usage.  Theodore  had  appointed  no  other  successor,  and 
Ivan  hail  therefore  the  greater  right  to  the  throne.  But  the  ac- 
cession of  Ivan  would  necessitate  a  continued  regency,  and  that 
regency  would  naturally  be  influenced  by  his  uncle  and  cousins, 
the  Milosliivskys.  The  Miloslavsky  family  was  not  popular  among 
the  aristocracy,  and  this  very  fact  disposed  many  of  the  nobles  to 


1GS2. 


Tsarevitch  Joann,   or  Ivan  (Half-Brother  of  Peter). 


ELECTION   OF   TSAE.  35 

take  the  side  of  Peter.  To  be  sure,  even  under  Peter  the  public 
affairs  would  be  for  a  long  time  in  the  hands  of  Matveief ;  but 
Matveief  was  a  man  who  had  never  offended  the  great  nobles, 
either  by  his  manners  toward  them,  or  by  the  introduction  of 
any  reforms  trenching  upon  their  privileges.  He  employed 
them,  as  far  as  he  could ;  at  all  events,  he  respected  their  rank, 
and  so  few  of  them  at  that  time  were  fit  to  take  part  in  public 
affairs  that  this  was  all  they  cared  for.  Only  two  great  mag- 
nates took  the  side  of  Ivan — Prince  Vasilievitch  Golitsyn  and 
Prince  Ivan  Andreievitch  Havansky.  Golftsyn  had  been 
brought  into  great  antagonism  to  the  aristocracy  by  the  part  he 
had  played  in  the  reform  movement  under  Theodore,  of  which 
we  shall  speak  presently  ;  but  there  is  also  some  reason  to  believe 
that  he  was  already  in  such  intimate  personal  relations  with  the 
Princess  Sophia,  of  whom  he  was  afterward  the  acknowledged 
lover,  that  he  saw  through  her  means,  in  case  of  the  election  of 
Ivan,  the  possibility  of  his  rising  to  the  highest  power  and  in- 
fluence in  the  state.  Prince  Havansky,  an  empty  and  addle- 
pated  man,  of  no  special  ability,  prided  himself  on  his  descent 
from  King  Gedimin  of  Lithuania,  and  had  a  great  opinion  of 
his  own  personal  importance.  Without  any  claim  to  important 
public  positions,  his  life  had  been  passed  in  continual  surprises 
that  the  high  places  of  state  were,  one  after  the  other,  filled  by 
some  other  than  Prince  Havansky.  He  had  been  deprived  o£ 
command  at  Pskof — the  only  important  position  he  had  ever 
held — for  cruelty,  immorality,  and  notorious  incompetency,  and 
the  Tsar  Alexis  had  said  to  him,  '  Though  I  picked  you  out  and 
put  you  into  service,  everybody  calls  you  a  fool.'  Without 
ideas,  he  talked  incessantly,  bustled  noisily  about  with  no  defi- 
nite object,  and  was  such  a  braggart  and  boaster  that  he  acquired 
the  popular  nickname  of  TaranCi,  expressive  at  once  of  the  in- 
constancy of  the  weather-cock  and  the  exultation  of  the  barn- 
yard fowl.  As  from  Matveief  and  the  Xaryshkins  he  had 
nothing  to  hope  for  himself,  and  consequently  for  Russia,  he 
opposed  Peter  and  took  the  side  of  Ivan.  The  sisters  of  Theo- 
dore and  the  Miloslavsky  party  had,  therefore,  little  support  to 
expect  for  their  candidate  in  the  council  which  would  decide 
the  election  of  the  Tsar,  for,  under  the  circumstances,  it  was  felt 
that  nothing  less  than  a  ratification  by  the  representatives  of  all 


36  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

Bussia,  as  in  the  case  of  the  election  of  Michael,  would  fix  the 
crown  on  Peter's  head  without  the  liability  to  further  disputes. 
But  as  the  Miloslavskys  had  not  been  sparing  of  the  step- 
mother and  her  children  in  the  moment  of  their  triumph,  dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  the  reign  of  Theodore,  they  had  to  fear 
the  worst,  and  therefore  had  to  do  something  in  self-defence. 
By  a  plentiful  use  of  money  and  promises,  they  won  over  a 
number  of  '  young  men  ' — that  is,  persons  without  high  position, 
but  who,  nevertheless,  could  exercise  considerable  influence — 
some  courtiers,  others  delegates  of  the  Streltsi,  or  National 
Guard,  among  whom  there  was  a  great  deal  of  discontent. 
Their  plans,  however,  were  not  yet  matured  when  Theodore 
died.  Many  of  the  aristocratic  party,  which  used  the  name  of 
Peter  for  its  watchword,  ascertaining  the  movements  of  the 
Miloslavskys,  feared  that  the  election  would  result  in  bloodshed, 
and  came  to  the  palace  with  coats  of  mail  under  their  gowns. 
This  time,  however,  there  was  no  trouble. 

"When  all,  according  to  custom,  had  given  a  farewell  kiss  to 
the  hand  of  the  dead  Theodore,  and  had  paid  their  salutations 
to  Princes  Ivan  and  Peter,  the  Patriarch,  the  archbishops,  and 
the  abbots  of  the  chief  monasteries  came  into  the  ante-room. 
The  Patriarch,  who  was  himself  a  boyar,  belonging  to  the  Sa- 
belief  family,  put  to  the  assembled  nobles  the  question :  '  "Which 
of  the  two  Princes  shall  be  Tsar  ? '  The  nobles  at  once  replied 
that  this  should  be  decided  by  the  people  of  all  the  ranks  of 
the  Muscovite  state.  Now  delegates  from  the  whole  country, 
two  from  each  district,  were  in  Moscow,  having  come  on  the 
summons  of  Theodore,  in  order  at  a  session  of  the  States- 
General  to  decide  on  a  fundamental  reform  of  the  tax  system. 
No  pains,  however,  were  taken  to  collect  these  delegates,  and 
the  nobles  meant  by  their  words  merely  their  adherents,  who 
had  collected  in  the  Great  Square  of  the  Kremlin,  adjoining  the 
palace.  The  Tsar  Shu'isky  had  been  overturned  because  he  had 
been  elected  by  Moscow  alone,  and  therefore,  the  States-General 
had  been  convened  when  Michael  Komanof  was  chosen.  The 
'  Muscovite  State '  in  the  present  case  meant,  practically,  a 
Moscow  crowd. 

The  Patriarch  and  the  archbishops  then  proceeded  to  the 
balcony  overlooking  the  Grand  Square  of  the  Kremlin,  in  front 


ELECTION   OF  TSAE.  37 

of  the  church  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  question  was  again  put : 
'  To  which  of  the  two  Princes  do  you  give  the  rule  ? '  There 
were  loud  cries  everywhere  of  '  Peter  Alexeivitch,'  there  were 
some  cries  of  '  Ivan  Alexeivitch,'  but  these  were  soon  drowned. 
The  matter  was  thus  decided  by  the  crowd  of  people  of  all 
ranks;  and  the  Patriarch  returned  into  the  palace,  and  gave 
his  blessing  to  Peter  as  Tsar.  The  name  of  only  one  person 
who  shouted  for  Ivan  is  known — Maxim  Sumbulof — and  an 
anecdote  is  told  of  his  subsequent  meeting  with  Peter.  Once, 
when  at  mass  at  the  Miracle  monastery,  Peter  noticed  that  one 
monk  did  not  go  up  to  receive  the  antidoron,  or  morsels  of 
holy  bread  distributed  at  the  end  of  the  mass.  Peter  asked 
who  he  was,  and  was  told  it  was  Sumbiilof.  He  then  called 
the  monk,  and  asked  him  why  he  did  not  receive  the  antldoron. 
The  monk  answered :  '  I  did  not  dare  to  go  by  you,  Lord,  and 
raise  my  eyes  to  you.'  The  Tsar  bade  him  go  for  the  antldo- 
ron, and  subsequently  calling  him  again  asked  :  '  Why  did  I  not 
suit  you  in  the  election  for  Tsar? '  Sumbiilof  replied  :  '  Judas 
sold  Christ  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  although  he  was  his 
disciple ;  and  I,  Lord,  was  never  your  disciple.  Is  it  strange, 
then,  that  I — a  petty  nobleman — should  sell  you  to  become  a 
boyar  ? ' 

All  this  was  in  the  spring  of  16S2,  when  the  "Whigs  were 
conspiring  against  Charles  the  Second,  three  years  before  the 
.Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Xantes,  and  a  year  after  Strasburg 
and  Alsace  had  been  annexed  by  Louis  XIV.,  the  same  year 
that  William  Penn  was  colonising  Pennsylvania  and  La  Salle 
exploring  Louisiana. 

The  election  was  decided  ;  Peter  was  Tsar,  and  by  custom, 
the  step-mother,  as  head  of  the  family,  was  the  regent.  What 
could  the  princesses  and  the  Miloslavsky  party  do  ?  Pretence 
was  useless ;  open  opposition  was  the  expression  almost  of 
despair.  On  the  day  of  the  funeral  of  Theodore,  the  Princess 
Sophia,  contrary  to  all  etiquette,  insisted  on  accompanying  the 
body  to  the  church.  Remonstrances  were  in  vain.  She  not 
only  went,  disregarding  the  Byzantine  prescriptions  which  kept 
the  princesses  unseen  behind  a  canopy,  showing  herself  openly 
to  the  people,  but  she  was  also  loud  in  the  expression  of  her 
grief,  which  was  certainly  sincere  and  not  feigned.     At  last, 

'  1 


38  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

long  before  the  ceremonies  had  terminated,  the  widowed  step- 
mother, Natalia,  left  the  church,  leading  her  son  Peter.  This 
excited  remark,  not  only  among  the  populace,  but  still  more  on 
the  part  of  the  Princess  Tatiana,  the  eldest  member  of  the 
family,  the  sister  of  the  Tsar  Alexis  and  the  aunt  of  Theodore, 
highly  respected  for  her  charity  and  goodness,  who  sent  at  noon 
a  message  to  Natalia,  saying :  '  You're  a  tine  relation — could 
you  not  wait  till  the  end  of  the  funeral.'  Natalia  excused  her- 
self on  the  ground  that  Peter  was  so  young  that  it  would  have 
been  injurious  to  his  health  to  have  remained  in  church  so  long 
without  eating.  Her  cousin,  Ivan  Naryshkin,  who  had  just 
returned  from  exile,  and  was  constantly  causing  trouble  by  his 
thoughtless  remarks,  said :  '  Let  him  that  is  dead  lie  there. 
His  Majesty  the  Tsar  is  not  dead,  but  still  lives.'  On  return- 
ing from  the  funeral  Sophia  wept  bitterly,  and  turning  to  the 
people  cried  out :  '  You  see  how  our  brother  the  Tsar  Theodore 
has  suddenly  gone  from  this  world.  His  ill-wishers  and 
enemies  have  poisoned  him.  Have  pity  on  us  orphans.  We 
have  no  father  nor  mother  nor  brother.  Our  eldest  brother 
Ivan  has  not  been  elected  Tsar,  and  if  we  are  to  blame  before 
you  and  the  boyars,  let  us  go  live  in  other  lands  which  are 
ruled  over  by  Christian  Kings.'  These  words  naturally  pro- 
duced a  deep  impression.1 

1  Solovief,  vol.  xiii.  ;  Ustrialof ,  ch.  1  ;  Pogodin ;  Esipof  ;  Astrof  ;  Mat- 
veief's  Memoirs;  Causeless  Imprisonment  of  the  Boydr  Matreief ;  Medvedief's 
Memoirs  ;  Collins  ;  Zaniyslofsky,  The  Reign  of  Theodore  Alexeieeitch  (Russian), 
St.  Petersburg,  1871. 


V. 

NEED   OF   REFORM.— ABOLITION   OF   PRECEDENCE. —GRIEVANCES 
OF   THE   STRELTSL— RETURN   OF   MATVEIEF. 

So  much  for  court  intrigues.  Struggles  between  courtiers 
for  place  and  influence  have  always  been  carried  on,  and.  are 
often  not  devoid  of  political  and  historical  importance.  Court 
intrigues  are,  however,  not  everything.  In  cases  where  court 
intrigue  seems  to  have  shaped  the  destiny  of  a  nation,  there 
will  usually  be  found  some  causes  of  popular  discontent — some 
struggle  in  the  mass  of  the  nation,  which  either  takes  advan- 
tage of  the  intrigue  of  courtiers  to  make  itself  felt,  or  by  means 
of  which  courtiers  succeed  in  their  ends.  So  it  was  here. 
"Whatever  might  be  the  mutual  feelings  of  the  rival  families 
and  of  the  rival  place-holders  who  surrounded  Theodore,  and 
who  placed  Peter  on  the  throne,  they  are  only  of  importance 
on  account  of  the  popular  fermentation  which  they  assisted  in 
bringing  to  light. 

The  need  of  reform  had  long  been  felt  everywhere — in  the 
Church,  in  civil  life,  in  education,  in  the  administration,  espe- 
cially of  justice  and  of  the  finances,  and  more  than  anywhere 
else,  in  the  army.  The  defects  of  the  army  had  caused  the 
jlefeat jitHussia^oth  by  Swedes  and  Poles,  and  the  Tsar  Alexis 
readily  accepted  officers,  men,  and  arms  from  abroad.  Russia 
was  beginning  a  period  of  transition,  and  a  period  of  transition 
is  always  a  period  of  discontent.  She  had  arrived  at  that  state 
when  all  thinking  men  saw  very  plainly  that  the  old  order  of 
things  had  been  outlived  and  must  soon  come  to  an  end.  With 
new  ideas  new  systems  must  be  introduced  from  Western 
Europe,  and  no  one  knew  exactly  how  changes  would  take 
place,  or  how  far  they  would  go.  Feeble  as  the  Tsar  Theodore 
was  physically,  he  entered  fully  into  the  reformatory  spirit, 


40  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

and  his  short  reign  was  distinguished  by  many  sincere  efforts 
to  improve  the  condition  of  his  country.  He  wished  to  re-or- 
ganise the  army,  and  he  had  a  design  of  establishing  an  academy 
in  Moscow  for  the  better  education  of  the  people,  and  for  the 
support  of  the  Church.  He  also  formed  a  project  which  seemed 
far  in  advance  of  the  times,  for  completely  separating  the  mili- 
tary and  civil  offices.  His  early  death  left  many  of  his  plans 
inchoate,  but  one  great  reform  he  was  able  to  carry  out — namely, 
the  abolition  of  precedence,  which  had  long  been  a  curse,  and 
had  greatly  retarded  the  proper  administration  of  public  affairs. 
According  to  this  system  of  precedence,  every  noble  kept  strict 
account  of  all  services  which  he  or  his  ancestors  had  rendered 
to  the  state,  and  of  the  positions  and  offices  which  they  had 
held.  He  felt  that  he  could  not  take  a  position  less  distin- 
guished than  any  of  those  which  his  ancestors  had  previously 
occupied — that  he  could  not  hold  a  subordinate  office,  or  take  a 
lower  place  at  the  table,  or  in  the  Council  House,  without  de- 
rogating from  his  rank,  or  lowering  and  dishonouring  himself 
and  his  family,  in  his  own  estimation  and  that  of  others.  For 
this  reason  it  was  almost  impossible  to  put  capable  men  into 
positions  which  the  public  welfare  required  them  to  fill,  because 
incapable  men  of  higher  social  rank  refused  to  serve  under  them. 
So  detrimental  was  this  system — which  by  the  practice  of  so 
many  years  had  become  an  inveterate  custom — that  the  loss  of 
several  campaigns,  growing  entirely  out  of  struggle  for  place, 
sometimes  compelled  the  Tsars  to  declare,  at  the  beginning  of 
a  war,  that  it  would  be  conducted  'without  precedence' — that 
is,  that  the  offices  and  positions  held  during  the  campaign  should 
not  count  in  the  books  of  precedence.  This  method  of  avoid- 
ing the  custom  had  come  into  vogue  as  early  as  the  time  of  Ivan 
the  Terrible,  and  during  the  reigns  of  Michael  and  Alexis  nearly 
all  the  campaigns  had  been  carried  on  '  without  precedence.' 
This  of  course  led  people  to  think  that  the  Tsar  might  at  some 
time  issue  a  ukase  entirely  abolishing  precedence,  and  accus- 
tomed the  minds  of  the  nobility  to  the  possibility  of  such  a 
reform.  The  campaign  against  the  Turks  in  1081,  in  spite  of 
the  great  numbers  of  men  under  arms,  and  the  large  sums  ex- 
pended, had  not  resulted  as  had  been  wished.  The  Tsar  Theo- 
dore therefore  appointed  a  commission,  presided  over  by  Prince 


ABOLITION   OF   PRECEDENCE.  41 

Basil  Golitsyn,  to  consider  the  subject  of  the  re-organisation  of 
the  army  on  the  Western  basis.  The  commission  made  a  report 
on  that  subject,  and  as  a  preliminary  to  the  system  which  they 
wished  to  introduce,  proposed  the  total  abolition  of  precedence. 
On  January  22,  16S2,  Theodore  called  a  special  council  of  the 
boyars,  to  which  he  invited  the  Patriarch,  the  archbishops,  and 
delegates  from  the  chief  monasteries.  At  this  council  the  Tsar 
urged  the  abolition  of  precedence  as  an  absolute  necessity  for 
the  welfare  of  the  state,  stating,  in  the  language  of  that  time, 
that  'precedence  was  an  institution  invented  by  the  devil,  for 
the  purpose  of  destroying  Christian  love,  and  of  increasing  the 
hatred  of  brother  to  brother ; '  and  he  called  attention  to  his 
father's  efforts,  as  well  as  his  own,  for  the  suppression  of  this 
custom,  and  put  the  question  to  the  assembly  whether  the  peti- 
tion of  this  commission  should  be  accepted,  and  whether,  in 
future,  all  ranks  and  offices  should  be  without  precedence,  or, 
as  hitherto,  with  precedence.  The  Patriarch,  in  the  name  of 
the  archbishops  and  of  the  Church,  followed  with  a  violent 
attack  on  the  system,  and  the  assembly  voted  that  the  Tsar 
should  accede  to  the  petition,  and  to  the  opinions  of  the  Holy 
Patriarch  and  the  archbishops,  and  should  order  that  '  hence- 
forward all  ranks  should  be  without  precedence,  because  for- 
merly, in  many  military  exploits,  and  embassies,  and  affairs  of 
all  kinds,  much  harm,  disorganisation,  ruin,  and  advantage  to 
the  enemy  had  been  wrought  by  this,  and  that  it  was  a  system 
opposed  to  God,  intended  to  cause  confusion  and  great  hatred.' 
After  that  the  Tsar  ordered  the  official  service  books  to  be 
brought  into  his  presence — the  books  in  which,  for  many  cen- 
turies, the  official  services  of  every  noble  family,  and  of  all  its 
members  had  been  carefully  noted  down.  He  ordered,  at  the 
same  time,  that  all  who  had  such  books  of  their  own,  either 
original  or  copies,  should  surrender  them  to  the  Government. 
These  books  were  then  delivered  to  an  official,  who  took  them 
into  the  court -yard,  and  in  a  furnace  prepared  for  the  occasion 
burned  them  in  the  presence  of  the  Tsar  and  the  nobles. 

A  reform  like  this,  however  useful,  could  not  be  effected 
without  exciting  some  discontent  and  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  nobility.  The  only  matter  of  surprise  is  that  it  excited  so 
little  at  the  time.     Everyone,  however,  who  had  any  patriot- 


42 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


The  Streltsi  of   1613. 


ism,  or  any  sense  of  public  duty,  felt  that  it  was  a  necessity. 
The}-  had  been  willing  to  sacrifice  their  feeling  about  rank  on 
occasions  when  the  Tsar  had  specially  commanded  that  the  ser- 
vice should  be  without  precedence  ; 
they  were  now  willing  to  sacrifice 
it  entirely.  At  the  same  time,  if 
an  occasion  arose — if  there  were 
a  time  when  precedence  was  not 
waived — they  would  risk  every- 
thing rather  than  allow  their  fam- 
ily to  be  dishonoured.  But,  while 
consenting  to  the  measure,  the 
great  nobles  had  bitter  feelings 
against  the  authors  of  it,  and  es- 
pecially against  Prince  Basil  Golit- 
syn.  Taken  with  other  things,  this 
helped  to  make  them  unite  their 
f<  'ices,  and,  as  has  been  said,  they 
supported  Peter. 
Reference  has  been  made  to  the  want  of  organisation  in  the 
army.  The  military  forces  of  Russia  at  this  time  consisted  of  the 
armed  peasants,  who  were  brought 
into  the  field  by  their  lords  and 
masters,  after  special  summons,  at 
the  beginning  of  every  campaign 
— an  undisciplined  and  unwieldy 
mob ;  a  few  regiments  of  '  soldiers,' 
officered  by  foreigners  and  drilled 
in  European  tactics ;  and  the  Strel- 
tsi (literally,  archers),  a  sort  of  na- 
tional guard  founded  by  Ivan  the 
Terrible.  The  Streltsi,  composed 
of  twenty-two  regiments  named 
after  their  colonels,  of  about  a 
thousand  men  each,  served  ex- 
clusively under  Russian  officers, 
and  were  governed  by  the  old  rules 
of  Russian  tactics,  though  subjected  to  regular  discipline.  They 
were  concentrated  in  Moscow,  and  a  few  other  towns,  where  they 


The  Streltsi  of  a  Little  Later  Date. 


I 


THE   STRELTSI.  43 

lived  in  quarters  by  themselves.  They  were  subject  to  no  taxes 
and  were  allowed  certain  privileges,  such  as  being  permitted  to 
have  their  own  mills  and  shops,  and  to  trade  on  their  own  account 
when  they  were  not  actually  engaged  in  military  duties.  They 
were  for  the  most  part  married,  their  duties  were  hereditary,  and 
their  sons,  as  soon  as  they  became  old  enough,  entered  into 
their  fathers'  regiments.  In  spite  of  their  privileged  posi- 
tion, the  Streltsi  were  fair  representatives  of  the  mass  of  the 
[Russian  people,  among  whom  they  lived  and  married  and  had 
daily  intercourse,  and  from  whom  they  received  accession  to 
their  ranks.  Still,  not  only  had  their  discipline  become  weaker 
by  their  exceptional  position,  but  much  disorder  and  corruption 
had  crept  into  their  organisation,  and  there  were  many  com- 
plaints that  their  commanders  withheld  from  them  a  portion  of 
their  pay,  that  they  cheated  them  in  their  equipments,  and  that 
they  compelled  them  to  work  as  their  servants  and  slaves,  and 
thus  prevented  them  from  carrying  on  their  own  trade  and  sup- 
porting their  families. 

In  the  winter  before  the  death  of  Theodore,  and  about  the 
time  of  the  abolition  of  precedence,  the  Streltsi  of  the  P}rzhof 
Regiment  made  a  formal  complaint  that  their  colonel  was  re- 
taining half  their  pay,  and  subjecting  them  to  further  oppres- 
sion. Yaz5Tkof,  to  whom  was  given  the  duty  of  investigating 
the  matter,  decided  against  the  Streltsi  and  took  the  side  of 
the  colonel — for  a  favourable  answer  to  the  petitioners  might 
have  offended  Prince  Dolgoriiky,  the  head  of  the  Department 
of  the  Streltsi,  an  old  magnate,  whose  goodwill  it  was  at  that 
time  most  necessary  to  keep — and  ordered  the  more  prominent 
of  the  petitioners  to  be  punished,  so  as  to  teach  the  Streltsi  in 
future  not  to  complain,  but  to  be  obedient  to  the  constituted 
authorities.  Three  days  before  the  death  of  Theodore,  the 
Streltsi  accused  another  colonel,  Simeon  Griboyedof,  of  extor- 
tion, of  cruel  treatment,  of  withholding  their  pay,  occupying 
their  land,  compelling  them  under  pain  of  flogging  to  work  for 
him,  and  especially  of  forcing  them  to  work  during  the  Easter 
festivities  on  a  country  house  he  was  building  near  Moscow. 
To  prevent  what  happened  before,  they  this  time  sent  a  dele- 
gate with  the  petition  to  Prince  Dolgoriiky  himself  at  the  de- 
partment.    Dolgoriiky,  to  whom  it  was  reported  that  the  peti- 


44  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

tion  had  been  brought  by  a  drunken  and  foul-mouthed  soldier, 
ordered  the  delegate  to  be  whipped.  But  as  he  was  being  taken 
to  suffer  his  punishment  before  the  eyes  of  his  comrades,  he 
said  :  '  Brothers,  why  do  you  give  me  up  ?  I  gave  the  petition 
by  your  orders,  and  for  you.'  The  Streltsi  thereupon  attacked 
the  guard  and  rescued  their  delegate.  This  affair  excited  their 
anger,  and  in  all  the  regiments  complaints  began  to  be  louder 
and  more  persistent.  Finally  the  Government  yielded,  or  ap- 
peared to  yield,  and  an  order  was  given  that  Griboyedof  should 
be  removed  and  sent  to  Siberia,  and  that  his  property  should 
be  confiscated.  He  was  imprisoned  for  a  day  and  then  rein- 
stated. The  Streltsi  then  became  frightened,  and  fearing  the 
fate  of  the  first  petitioners,  began  to  take  measures  for  their 
own  safety.  The  death  of  Theodore,  however,  put  for  a  mo- 
ment a  stop  to  all  proceedings,  and  the  Streltsi  quietly  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Peter.  The  men  of  one  regiment  only 
refused  at  first  to  take  the  oath,  but  they  were  soon  won  over 
by  the  boyars  who  were  sent  to  talk  with  them,  and  kissed  the 
cross. 

The  Miloslavsky  party,  in  their  efforts  for  self-defence, 
naturally  took  advantage  of  the  discontent  of  the  Streltsi.  Ivan 
Miloslavsky  gave  himself  out  as  ill  and  received  no  guests,  but 
he  easily  found  aid  in  his  nephew  and  even  among  the  Streltsi. 
Disquieting  rumours  were  spread.  Much  talk  was  made  about 
the  burdens  that  would  be  laid  upon  the  Streltsi  by  the  Xa- 
r  vshkins  when  they  came  into  power,  and  it  was  whispered  about 
that  the  boyars,  with  the  help  of  the  German  doctors,  had  poi- 
soned the  Tsar  Theodore,  that  they  had  unjustly  elected  Peter, 
passing  over  the  claims  of  Ivan,  his  elder  brother,  in  order  that 
they  might  rule  under  his  name,  and  that  they  had  openly 
threatened  many  of  the  Streltsi  with  death  for  their  previous 
complaints.  The  absence  of  Matveief  was  favourable  to  any 
plans  for  working  on  the  Streltsi  against  the  Karyshkins.  He 
was  so  much  loved  by  the  Streltsi,  that,  had  he  been  present,  he 
could  easily  have  counteracted  such  schemes  by  promising  jus- 
tice. Some  regiments  assumed  a  hostile  attitude,  while  others 
wavered,  and  one — the  Siikharef  regiment — refused  to  listen  to 
these  intrigues  and  remained  faithful.  In  others  the  officers 
who  endeavoured  to  restore  order  and  bring  the  men  to  some 


THE   STRELTSI. 


45 


sense  of  their  obedience  to  the  crown  were  insulted  and  attacked. 
On  May  9,  the  Streltsi  presented  petitions  against  twelve  of 
their  colonels  and  officers  for  acts  of  violence,  unjust  imposts 
and  other  illegalities,  and  demanded  immediate  satisfaction, 
threatening,  in  case  it  were  not  granted  them,  to  take  the  law 
into  their  own  hands  and  recover  their  losses  out  of  the  prop- 
erty of  the  officers.  The  new  Government  had  no  counsellors 
on  whom  to  rely.  Among  all  the  nobles  of  old  and  venerated 
names  who  made  up  the  aristocratic  party,  and  who  had  gath- 
ered round  Peter — Odoiefsky,  Tcherkassky,  Dolgoruky,  Rep- 
nin,  Troekiirof,  Iiamodanofsky,  Sheremetief,  Shein,  Kurakin, 
Lykof,  Urusof — there  was  not  one  who  seemed  capable  of  ad- 
ministering a  department,  and  cer- 
tainly not  of  appeasing  a  storm 
like  this  when  tact  as  well  as  good 
sense  was  required.  There  were 
no  men  of  experience  in  the  new 
Government.  The  Naryshkins 
were  young  and  untried.  Yazykof , 
Likhatchef  and  Miloslavsky  refus- 
ed to  interfere,  as  it  was  none  of 
their  business  to  help  out  the  new 
Government ;  and  to  increase  the 
alarm,  Matveief  was  still  far  away. 
The  settlement  of  the  matter  was 
at  last  confided  to  the  Patriarch, 
who  endeavoured  to  arrange  mat- 
ters with  the  Streltsi  and  to  satisfy 
them  with  the  promise  that  all  would  be  set  right.  The  Streltsi, 
however,  demanded  that  the  colonels  should  be  given  up  to  them. 
The  boyars  were  so  much  frightened  that  they  were  inclined  to 
consent  to  this  demand  ;  but  the  Patriarch  sent  the  metropoli- 
tans and  archbishops  to  the  Streltsi,  in  the  hope  of  persuading 
them  to  thank  the  Tsar  for  his  promise,  and  to  abandon  the 
idea  of  themselves  punishing  their  commanders.  Next  day 
all  the  colonels  were  removed  from  their  offices  and  put  into 
prison,  and  an  order  was  given  to  confiscate  all  their  property, 
and  pay  all  the  claims  of  the  Streltsi.  On  the  12th,  Simeon 
Griboyedof  and  Alexander  Karandeyef,  two  of  the  colonels,  were 


Officers  of  the  Streltsi, 


46  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

whipped  with  the  knout,  and  twelve  others  with  rods.  Before  the 
execution  began,  the  accusations  were  read  over,  and  the  Streltsi, 
who  stood  about,  were  allowed  to  fix  the  measure  of  punishment, 
sometimes  exclaiming  '  harder,'  and  sometimes  '  enough.' 
Yielding  to  a  demand  which  was  probably  intended  as  a  test  of 
weakness,  the  Government  forbade  Yazykof  and  the  Likhatchef 
and  several  of  their  immediate  supporters  to  come  to  court  or  to 
appear  before  the  '  Shining  Eyes  '  of  the  Sovereign.  On  May 
l-±,  the  Streltsi  presented  a  new  petition  against  their  colonels, 
demanding  the  recovery  from  them  of  the  losses  which  they  had 
sustained,  and  the  next  day  the  colonels  were  submitted  to  the 
p?xwezh — that  is,  they  were  publicly  tortured  or  beaten,  until 
they  consented  to  pay  the  amount  claimed.  This  semi -judicial 
proceeding  lasted  for  eight  days,  until  every  farthing  which  had 
been  claimed  was  made  up  ;  and  the  colonels  were  then  allowed 
to  retire  to  their  houses  in  the  country.  As  the  Streltsi  had 
now  been  satisfied,  and  their  claims,  just  and  unjust,  had  been 
granted,  the  Government  hoped  to  have  a  little  quiet ;  and  in 
order  to  act  upon  public  opinion,  resolved  that  on  May  17  there 
should  be  a  public  procession  of  the  Tsar  and  the  court  officials 
to  the  Cathedrals  of  the  Kremlin.  At  the  same  time  there  was 
to  be  a  reception  at  the  Palace  of  the  nobility  of  the  province 
of  Smolensk,  of  foreigners  and  of  officials.  This  was  very  well 
in  its  wray,  but  at  the  same  time  the  great  mistake  was  made  of 
conferring  the  rank  of  '  boyar '  and  '  armourer '  on  the  eldest 
brother  of  the  Tsaritsa,  Ivan  Narvshkin,  a  young  man  only 
twenty-three  years  old.  Other  relations  of  the  Tsaritsa  also  re- 
ceived increase  of  rank.  These  new  favours  of  the  Xaryshkins 
displeased  not  only  the  Miloshivsky  party,  but  the  Streltsi,  with 
whom  they  were  unpopular.  It  was  said  that  the  Xaryshkins 
were  trying  to  get  the  power  on  their  own  side  in  order  to  use 
it  for  their  own  personal  ends  ;  and  it  was  rumoured  that  Ivan 
Xaryshkin  had  tried  on  the  Imperial  Crown  with  the  remark 
that  it  looked  better  on  him  than  on  anybody  else,  and  that  he 
had  rudely  pushed  aside  the  Princess  Sophia,  who  had  remon- 
strated with  him.  It  was  said,  too — for  the  most  absurd  re- 
ports will  circulate  in  an  ignorant  community — that  the  Xa- 
ryshkins wished  to  destroy  all  the  descendants  of  the  Tsars, 
and  themselves  take  possession  of  the  throne. 


RETURN   OF   MATVEIEF.  47 

Meanwhile  Matveief,  who  had  been  restored  to  all  his  ranks 
and  titles  on  the  first  day  of  the  accession  of  Peter,  and  was 
then  on  his  estate  only  two  days'  journey  from  town,  had  re- 
ceived numerous  messages  recalling  him  to  Moscow,  and  urging 
him  to  hasten.  Nevertheless  he  lingered.  He  received  daily 
accounts  of  what  was  going  on  at  the  capital,  for  even  before 
Theodore's  death,  many  of  his  old  enemies,  seeing  which  way 
the  wind  was  blowing,  and  what  were  the  chances  of  the  future, 
had  made  conciliatory  advances.  According  to  his  son's  account, 
seven  faithful  Streltsi  went  out  to  meet  him,  warned  him  of  the 
disaffection  against  the  Government  and  the  Naryshkins,  and  of 
the  threats  which  had  been  uttered  against  him,  and  advised  him 
not  to  go  on  to  Moscow.  He  probably  lingered  to  see  if  the 
storm  would  not  blow  over,  but  thinking  that,  as  once  he  had 
been  such  a  favourite  with  the  Streltsi  that  they  had  even 
brought  with  their  own  hands  stones  from  the  graves  of  their 
fathers  to  build  his  house,  he  would  be  able  to  complete  the 
pacification,  he  set  out  for  Moscow.  After  stopping  a  day  to 
rest  at  the  Troi'tsa  monastery  and  receiving  the  blessing  of  the 
Archimandrite,  he  was  met  at  the  village  of  Bratovstchina  by  a 
state  carriage  and  by  Athanasius  Naryshkin,  who  had  been  sent 
to  greet  him  in  the  name  of  the  Tsar  and  of  the  Tsaritsa.  Late 
in  the  evening  of  May  21,  the  old  man  returned  to  his  house 
after  six  years  of  exile  passed  amidst  the  greatest  privations. 
The  next  day  he  had  an  interview  with  the  Tsaritsa ;  and  had 
the  pleasure  of  embracing  her  son,  the  Tsar  Peter.  The  family 
and  the  adherents  of  the  Tsar  now  thought  that  all  would  be 
right,  that  the  old  man  with  his  long  experience  and  good  sense, 
and  the  general  love  felt  toward  him,  would  be  able  to  overcome 
all  difficulties  and  to  establish  order.  For  three  days  the  house 
of  Matveief  was  filled  with  visitors  of  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
Moscow.  Every  one  came  to  congratulate  him,  even  the  members 
of  the  Miloshivsky  party,  except  Ivan  Miloslavsky  himself,  who 
still  gave  himself  out  to  be  ill.  All  who  came  brought  presents  of 
one  kind  or  another  ;  "  sweet  money  on  the  sharp  knife,'  as  his 
son  expressed  it.  So  many  gifts  of  all  descriptions,  especially 
of  provisions,  were  brought  to  his  court-yard,  that  there  was  no 
longer  any  room  for  them  in  the  cellars  and  store-houses. 
With   tears  of  joy  streaming  down  his  face,  the  old  man  re- 


48 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


ceived  all  who  came  ;  inwardly  he  must  have  experienced  feel- 
ings of  triumph  at  being  received  in  this  way  in  Moscow,  after 
his  unjust  exile. 

Baron  van  Keller,  writing  a  few  days  earlier,  says :  '  The 
discontent  of  the  Streltsi  continues.  The  Dutch  merchants 
have  been  much  frightened,  but  the  Streltsi  have  done  no  harm 
except  to  those  who  have  given  them  cause  for  dissatisfaction. 
As  a  proof  that  their  complaints  and  griefs  are  not  unfounded, 
His  Tsarish  Majesty  has  shown  them  much  goodness,  but  has 
entirely  disapproved  of  their  manner  of  acting,  as  too  vehe- 
ment and  irregular,  resembling  the  proceedings  of  the  neigh- 
bours the  Turkish  Janissaries,  who  likewise  have  wished  to 
be  their   own  judges,   and  have  caused   great   confusion   and 

loss When  the   tempest   is   over   Hegents  will  be 

chosen Meanwhile  all  public  affairs  are  at  a  stand- 
still  Great  calamities  are  feared,  and  not  without 

cause,  for  the  might  of  the  Streltsi  is  great  and  redoubtable, 
and  no  resistance  can  be  opposed  to  them.  Their  grievances 
should  be  corrected  so  as  to  avoid  bad  consequences.'  ' 

1  Reports  of  Dutch  Residents  at  Moscow  in  the  Archives  at  the  Hague  ; 
Ustrialof ,  ch.  ii. ;  Solovief,  vol.  xiii. ;  Pogodin  ;  Matveief 's  Memoirs  ;  Medve- 
dief  s  Memoirs ;  N.  Aristof ,  The  Moscow  Troubles  in  the  Reign  of  Sophia, 
(Russian),  Warsaw,  1871. 


Flag  of  the   Streltsi  of  Moscow. 


VI. 

THE  RIOT   OF   THE   STRELTSI,    1682. 

On  May  25,  the  Streltsi,  armed  from  head  to  foot  with 
swords,  halberds  and  muskets,  began  to  collect  at  a  very  early 
hour  in  their  churches  in  the  most  opposite  quarters  of  the  city, 
as  if  waiting  for  some  watchword.  Soon  a  watchword  came. 
About  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  man  rode  hurriedly  through 
the  streets  crying  out :  '  The  Xaryshkins  have  murdered  the 
Tsarevitch  Ivan  !  To  the  Kremlin  !  The  Naryshkins  wish  to 
kill  all  the  royal  family  !  To  arms !  Punish  the  traitors ! 
Save  the  Tsar ! '  A  general  alarm  was  at  once  sounded.  Drums 
were  beaten,  bells  rung,  and  the  regimental  cannon  were  brought 
out.  The  Streltsi,  with  their  broad  banners  embroidered  with 
pictures  of  the  Virgin,  advanced  from  all  sides  toward  the 
Kremlin,  as  if  to  attack  an  enemy,  compelling  their  colonels  to 
lead  them  on.  The  peaceable  citizens  who  met  them  were  as- 
tonished at  this  onset ;  but  to  their  inquiries  as  to  its  cause  the 
answer  returned  was :  '  We  are  going  to  destroy  the  traitors  and 
murderers  of  the  family  of  the  Tsar.'  Xo  doubt  the  majority 
of  them  sincerely  believed  that  the  Tsar  was  really  in  danger, 
that  the  Xaryshkins  were  desirous  of  mounting  the  throne,  and 
that  they  were  patriots  going  to  save  their  country,  and  to  res- 
cue their  ruler  from  the  traitors  and  the  hated  boyars.  As  they 
advanced  they  cut  off  the  long  handles  of  their  spears,  so  as  to 
manage  them  more  easily.  Meanwhile  the  boyars  were  quietly 
sitting  in  the  public  offices  and  in  the  palace,  without  the  slight- 
est idea  of  what  was  passing  in  the  city,  or,  after  finishing  the 
morning's  official  duties,  they  were  strolling  about  previous  to 
their  midday  dinner.  Matveief,  on  coming  out  upon  the  stair- 
case leading  to  the  bed-chamber  porch,  saw  Prince  Theodore 
Uriisof  hastily  running  toward  him,  with  scarcely  breath  enough 
Vol.  I.— 4 


50  PETER  THE   GREAT 

to  cry  out  that  the  Streltsi  had  risen,  and  that  all  the  regiments, 
fully  armed  and  with  beating  drums,  were  advancing  towards 
the  Kremlin.  Matveief,  astonished,  immediately  returned  to 
the  palace  with  Urusof,  to  inform  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia.  The 
words  were  scarcely  out  of  his  mouth  before  three  messengers 
came  in,  one  after  another,  each  with  worse  news  than  the  pre- 
ceding. The  Streltsi  were  already  in  the  old  town  and  near  the 
Kremlin  walls.  Orders  were  immediately  given  to  close  the 
Kremlin  gates  and  to  prepare  whatever  means  of  defence  there 
might  be,  and  the  Patriarch  was  hastily  sent  for.  The  officer  of 
the  guard,  however,  came  with  the  intelligence  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  shut  the  gates,  as  the  Streltsi  had  already  passed  them 
and  were  now  in  the  Kremlin.  All  the  carriages  of  the  boyars 
had  been  driven  back  to  the  Ivan  place,  and  the  drivers  were 
some  wounded  and  some  killed,  while  the  horses  were  either 
cut  to  pieces  or  removed  from  the  vehicles.  No  one  could  get 
into  the  Kremlin  or  out  of  it,  and  the  frightened  boyars  took 
refuge,  one  after  another,  in  the  banqueting-hall  of  the  palace. 

The  Streltsi  surrounded  the  palace,  and  stopped  before  the 
red  staircase.  Amid  the  din,  the  cries  and  the  uproar  it  was 
barely  possible  to  distinguish  the  words :  '  Where's  the  Tsar- 
evitch Ivan  ?  Give  us  the  Naryshkins  and  Matveief !  Death 
to  the  traitors  ! '  A  brief  council  having  been  held  in  the  ban- 
queting-hall, it  was  decided  to  send  some  boyars  out  to  the 
Streltsi,  to  demand  of  them  what  they  Avanted.  Prince  Tcher- 
kasky,  Prince  TIavansky,  Prince  Golitsyn  and  Sheremetief 
then  went  out  and  asked  the  Streltsi  why  they  had  come  to  the 
palace  in  this  riotous  way.  '  We  wish  to  punish  the  traitors,' 
was  their  reply  ;  '  they  have  killed  the  Tsarevitch.  They  will 
destroy  all  the  royal  family.  Give  up  to  us  the  Xaryshkins  and 
the  other  traitors.'  "When  the  boyars  brought  back  this  answer, 
the  Tsaritsa  was  advised  by  her  father,  Matveief,  and  others  to 
go  out  on  the  red  staircase  and  show  to  the  Streltsi  both  the 
Tsar  Peter  and  the  Tsarevitch  Ivan.  Trembling  with  terror, 
she  took  by  the  hands  her  son  and  her  step-son,  and — accom- 
panied by  the  Patriarch,  the  boyars,  and  the  other  officials — 
went  out  upon  the  red  staircase.  '  Here  is  the  Tsar,  Peter 
Alexeievitch ;  here  is  the  Tsarevitch,  Ivan  Alexeievitch,'  the 
boyars  cried  out  in  loud  voices,  as  they  came  out  with  the  Tsar- 


1082.] 


KIOT   OF   THE   STRELTSI. 


51 


itsa  and  pointed  the  children  out  to  the  Streltsi.  '  By  God's 
mercy  they  are  safe  and  well.  There  are  no  traitors  in  the  royal 
palace.  Be  quiet ;  you  have  been  deceived.'  The  Streltsi 
placed  ladders  against  the  rails,  and  some  of  them  climbed  up 
to  the  platform  where  the  Tsar's  family  stood,  in  order  the  more 
closely  to  examine  them.  Peter  stood  still  and  looked  at  them, 
face  to  face,  without  blanching  or  showing  the  least  sign  of  fear. 
On  coming  to  the  Tsarevitch  Ivan,  the  Streltsi  asked  him  if  he 
really  were  Ivan  Alexeie- 
vitch.  '  Yes,'  answered  the 
youth,  in  an  almost  inaudible 
voice.  Again  the  question 
was  repeated.  '  x\re  you 
really  lie  ? '  '  Yes,  I  am  he,' 
was  the  reply.  The  Patri- 
arch then  wished  to  descend 
the  staircase  and  talk  with 
the  rioters  ;  but  the  cry  came 
up  from  below,  '  We  have  no 
need  of  your  advice ;  we  know 
what  to  do,'  and  many  men 
forced  their  way  up  past  him. 
The  Tsaritsa,  seeing  their 
rudeness  and  fearing  the  con- 
sequences, took  the  children 
back  into  the  palace. 

Matveief,  who  had  for- 
merly been  a  favourite  com- 
mander of  the  Streltsi,  went  down  outside  of  the  wicket  and 
spoke  to  them  in  a  confident  yet  propitiatory  tone,  reminding 
them  of  their  former  faithful  services,  especially  during  the  time  of 
the  Ivolomensky  riots,1  and  of  their  good  reputation  which  they 
were  now  destroying  by  their  proceedings,  and  explaining  to 
them  that  they  were  anxious  without  reason  by  believing  false 
reports.     He  told  them  that  there  was  no  cause  for  their  alarm 

1  There  were  very  serious  riots  during-  the  reign  of  Alexis,  in  1662,  origi- 
nating in  the  misery  and  discontent  produced  by  the  debasement  of  the  cur- 
rency. The  rioters  marched  out  from  Moscow  to  the  country-house  of  the 
Tsar  at  Kolomensky. 


Matveief. 


52  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

about  the  royal  family,  which,  as  they  had  just  seen  with  their 
own  eyes,  was  in  perfect  safety.  lie  advised  them  to  beg 
pardon  for  the  disturbance  which  they  had  made,  which  had 
been  caused  by  their  excessive  loyalty,  and  he  would  persuade 
the  Tsar  to  overlook  it  and  restore  them  to  favour.  These 
sensible,  good-natured  words  wrought  a  deep  impression.  The 
men  in  the  front  grew  quiet ;  and  it  was  evident  that  they  had 
begun  to  reflect.  Further  off  were  still  heard  voices  in  discus- 
sion  and  conversation,  as  though  a  better  feeling  were  taking 
possession  of  the  multitude.     It  gradually  became  calmer. 

Matveief  hastened  back  into  the  palace  to  allay  the  fears  of 
the  Tsaritsa,  when,  unfortunately,  Prince  Michael  Dolgoruky, 
the  second  in  command  of  the  Department  of  the  Streltsi, 
came  out  and,  relying  on  the  words  of  Matveief,  and  thinking 
that  all  irritation  was  over,  wished  to  put  himself  forward  and 
to  show  his  powers  of  command.  In  his  rudest  and  roughest 
tones  he  ordered  the  Streltsi  to  go  home  immediately,  and  to 
attend  to  their  own  business.  All  the  good  impression  which 
Matveief 's  words  had  produced  was  immediately  dispelled. 
The  opponents  of  the  Isaryshkins,  who  had  been  rendered 
silent  by  the  changed  disposition  of  the  multitude,  again  began 
to  raise  their  voices  ;  and  some  of  the  Streltsi,  who  were  more 
drunken  or  riotous  than  the  rest,  seized  Dolgoruky  by  his  long 
gown,  threw  him  down  from  the  platform  into  the  square,  ask- 
ing the  crowd  at  the  same  time  whether  such  was  their  will, 
while  the  men  below  caught  him  on  their  spears,  exclaiming 
'  Y  es,  yes,'  cut  him  to  pieces. 

This  first  act  of  bloodshed  was  the  signal  for  more.  Lower- 
ing their  spears,  the  Streltsi  rushed  into  the  rooms  of  the  palace, 
which  some  had  already  succeeded  in  entering  from  another 
side,  in  order  to  seize  upon  Matveief,  who  was  in  the  ante-room 
of  the  banqueting-hall,  with  the  Tsaritsa  and  her  son.  The 
Streltsi  moved  toward  him  ;  the  Tsaritsa  wished  to  protect  him 
with  her  own  person,  but  in  vain.  Prince  Tcherkasky  tried  to 
get  him  away,  and  had  his  coat  torn  off  in  the  struggle.  At 
last,  in  spite  of  the  Tsaritsa,  the  Streltsi  pulled  Matveief  away, 
dragged  him  to  the  red  staircase,  and  with  exultant  cries,  threw 
him  down  into  the  square,  where  he  was  instantly  cut  to  pieces 
by  those  below. 


1682.  J  KIOT   OF   THE   STRELTSI.  53 

The  Streltsi  then  burst  again  into  the  palace,  and  went 
through  all  the  rooms,  seeking  for  those  they  called  traitors. 
The  boyars  hid  themselves  where  they  could.  The  Patriarch 
was  scarcely  able  to  escape  into  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assump- 
tion, while  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia  and  her  son  took  refuge  in  the 
banqueting-hall. 

The  Streltsi  ran  through  all  the  inner  rooms  of  the  palace, 
looked  into  the  store-rooms,  under  the  beds,  into  the  chapels, 
thrust  their  spears  under  the  altars,  and  left  no  place  without  a 
visit.  From  a  distance  they  saw  Theodore  Soltykof  going  into 
one  of  the  chapels.  Some  one  cried  out :  '  There  goes  Ivan 
Xaryshkin,"  and  the  unlucky  man  was  so  frightened  that  he 
could  not  pronounce  a  single  word,  or  even  tell  his  name.  He 
was  at  once  killed,  and  his  body  thrown  below.  "When  it  was 
ascertained  who  it  was,  and  that  he  was  not  a  jSTaryshkin,  the 
Streltsi  sent  the  body  to  old  Soltykof,  and  excused  themselves 
by  saying  that  his  son  had  been  killed  by  mistake.  '  God's 
will  be  done,'  said  the  old  man,  who  had  even  the  presence  of 
mind  to  give  the  messengers  something  to  eat  and  drink.  xVfter 
they  had  left  the  house,  in  trying  to  console  his  weeping 
daughter-in-law,  he  quoted  a  Russian  proverb  to  the  effect  that 
'  their  turn  will  come  next.'  A  servant  who  had  overheard  this, 
and  who  had  a  grudge  against  his  master,  immediately  rushed 
out,  and  told  the  Streltsi  that  his  master  had  threatened  them. 
They  returned  and  murdered  him  on  the  spot. 

In  the  Church  of  the  Resurrection  the  Streltsi  met  one  of 
the  court  dwarfs,  named  Homyak.  '  Tell  me  where  the  xsarysk- 
kins,  the  Tsaritsa's  brothers,  are  hid  ? '  they  asked.  He 
pointed  to  the  altar,  and  they  pulled  out  Athanasius  jSTaryshkin, 
dragged  him  by  the  hair  to  the  chancel  steps,  and  there  cut 
him  to  pieces.  His  younger  brothers,  his  father,  and  his  other 
relatives,  as  well  as  Matveief's  son,  whose  description  of  these 
events  we  chiefly  follow,  took  refuge  in  the  apartments  of  the 
little  Princess  Natalia,  Peter's  sister,  which  apparently  were  not 
searched. 

On  the  portico  between  the  banqueting-hall  and  the  Cathe- 
dral of  the  Annunciation  the  Streltsi  killed  the  privy-councillor 
and  director  of  foreign  affairs,  Larion  Ivanof,  who  had  been 
one  of  those  sent  to  negotiate  with  them,  his  son  Basil,  and  two 


54  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

lieutenant-colonels.  Between  the  Patriarch's  palace  and  the 
Miracle  Monastery,  opposite  the  Department  of  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, the  Streltsi  caught  the  old  boyar  tiamodanofsky,  seized 
him  by  the  beard  and  dragged  him  to  the  Office  of  Expeditions. 
There  they  raised  him  up  on  the  points  of  their  spears,  and 
then  threw  him  to  the  ground  and  cut  him  to  pieces,  because,  as 
they  said,  he  had  been  too  severe  with  them  in  the  expedition 
to  Tchigirm. 

The  dead  bodies,  with  the  spears  still  sticking  in  them, 
were  dragged  along  by  the  feet  to  the  gates  of  the  Kremlin, 
amidst  cries  of  'Here  goes  the  Boyar  Artemon  Sergheievitch 
Matveief ! '  '  This  is  the  Boyar  Prince  Gregory  Gregorie- 
vitch  llamodanof sky  ! '  'Here  goes  a  privy-councillor — make 
room  for  them  ! '  When  the  bodies  had  been  dragged  to  the 
Lobnoe  place,  where  the  tribune  used  at  popular  assemblies 
stood,  they  were  hacked  into  small  pieces,  amidst  cries  of  '  They 
loved  to  exalt  themselves;  this  is  their  reward.'  The  crowd 
that  stood  around  was  obliged  to  express  its  satisfaction,  be- 
cause everybody  who  was  silent  was  accused  of  being  a  traitor, 
and  as  such  was  beaten. 

Peter  Xaryshkin,  who  knew  nothing  of  what  was  going  on, 
was  found  in  a  house  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  Moskva, 
and  was  tortured  and  killed.  Great  efforts  were  made  to  find 
Doctor  Daniel  von  Gaden,  a  Jew  by  birth,  whom  the  Streltsi 
believed  to  have  poisoned  the  Tsar  Theodore.  The  rioters  went 
to  his  house,  which  was  near  the  Poganv  pond,  and  arrested  his 
wife.  They  also  searched  the  house  of  his  partner,  Doctor  Jan 
Gutmensch,  but  as  they  found  no  one,  they  went  away.  A 
new  crew  came,  and  succeeded  in  finding  a  frightened  man.  who 
had  hidden  himself  in  the  garret,  and  took  him  to  the  Kremlin 
together  with  Yon  Gaden's  wife,  threatening  to  keep  them 
until  the  Doctor  was  found,  and  in  case  of  his  not  being  dis- 
covered, to  kill  them  both. 

Partly  from  anger  against  the  boyars,  and  partly  from  genu- 
ine sympathy,  the  Streltsi  took  up  the  cause  of  the  serfs.  Many 
of  them  had  been  serfs  themselves,  and  knew  the  oppressions 
to  which  they  were  subject.  They  wished  not  only  to  set  the 
serfs  free  and  '  restore  right  and  justice  to  the  land.'  but  also  to 
gain  adherents  to  their  own  cause.    With  this  aim  thev  attacked 


1682.] 


EIOT   OF   THE   STEELTSI. 


55 


the  Departments  of  Justice  and  of  Serfage,  broke  open  the 
chests  of  papers  and  scattered  them  through  the  streets ;  and 
then,  going  afterward  to  the  houses  of  the  chief  boyars,  declared 
to  the  serfs  that  they  were  free.  This  action  produced  little 
effect;  they  were  joined  by  few  of  the  common  people,  who 
were  slow  to  move  and  were  frightened,  rather  than  excited, 
by  the  events  of  the  day.  The  Streltsi  were  a  mob,  but  still  a 
mob  of  soldiers.  As  in  many  similar  cases,  a  few  nobles  were 
betrayed  and  given  up  by  their  servants.  A  few  others  owed 
their  safety  to  the  devotion  of  their  faithful  slaves. 

That  night  strong  guards  were  left  at  the  gates  of  the  Krem- 
lin with  strict  orders  to  let  no  one  in  or  out.     Pickets  were  also 
stationed  at  the  gates  of  the 
Kitai  Gorod  and  the  White 
Town.     On  their  way  home 


parties  of  Streltsi  entered 
various  houses  and  demand- 
ed refreshments.  If  any  one 
dared  refuse  them  they  beat 
the  masters  and  servants, 
and  excited  general  terror. 
But  such  conduct  excited  the 
reprobation  of  the  leaders. 

Early  the  next  day,  the 
26th,  the  Streltsi  came  again, 
fully  armed,  and,  with  beat- 
ing drums  advancing  to  the 
gilded  lattice  near  the  apart- 
ment of  the  Tsar,  demanded 
with  loud  cries  the  surrender 
of  Ivan  Naryshkin,  the  Councillor  Kirilof,  and  the  two  doctors, 
Daniel  the  Jew  and  Jan  Gutmensch.  The  princesses  endeav- 
oured to  save  the  lives  of  these  people,  but  they  were  obliged  to 
surrender  Kirilof  and  Doctor  Gutmensch,  although  they  suc- 
ceeded in  concealing  the  wife  of  Doctor  Daniel  von  Gaden  in 
the  room  of  the  young  Tsaritsa  Martha,  the  widow  of  Theodore. 
The  others  were  killed. 

The  Streltsi  then  went  to  the  residence  of  the  Patriarch  and 
threatened  with  spears  and  halberds  not  only  the  servants  but 


The   Patriarch   Nikon. 


56  I  MITER   THE   GREAT. 

the  Patriarch  himself,  demanding  the  surrender  of  the  traitors 
concealed  there;  looked  through  the  cellars  and  outhouses; 
turned  topsy-turvy  boxes  and  beds,  and  not  finding  anyone, 
again  came  to  the  Patriarch  and  repeated  their  demands.  The 
Patriarch,  who  had  put  on  his  robes,  replied  that  there  were  no 
traitors  in  his  house,  but  that  lie  himself  was  ready  to  die. 

( >ne  band  went  to  the  house  of  the  Danish  resident,  Buten- 
ant  von  Itosenbusch,  because  they  had  heard  from  some  one 
that  Doctor  von  Gaden  and  his  son  were  sheltered  there.  'In 
the  night  between  Monday  and  Tuesday,'  Iiosenbusch  himself 
relates,  '  a  sharp  search  was  made  for  a  doctor  named  Daniel 
von  Gaden.  At  break  of  day  the  Okolnitchy  Kirilo  Ossipovitch 
Khlopof  and  more  than  one  hundred  Streltsi  came  into  my  court- 
yard, saying  that  they  had  information  that  the  doctor  and  his 
son  were  concealed  in  my  house,  and  telling  me  that  if  he  were 
there  I  must  give  him  up ;  and  that  if  I  should  conceal  him, 
and  he  should  be  found  in  my  house  it  would  cost  me  my  life 
and  that  of  my  whole  family,  and  that  all  my  property  would 
be  confiscated.  I  swore,  therefore,  by  all  that  was  holy,  that  I 
knew  nothing  about  him,  and  had  not  even  seen  him  for  a  long 
time.  Thereupon  he  said  that  he  had  orders  in  any  case  to 
search  my  house,  which  I  was  obliged  to  let  him  do,  because 
my  protestation  that  I  was  a  servant  of  the  king,  and  that  not 
I  but  my  most  gracious  king  would  be  affronted,  was  not  taken 
into  consideration;  but  they  went  on  and  searched  through 
everything,  chests  and  boxes — all  I  had  to  open  for  them  ;  and 
they  looked  through  every  corner  of  my  house.  Meanwhile 
came  news  that  the  doctor's  son  had  been  caught  in  disguise  in 
the  street  that  very  night,  so  that  the  Okolnitchy  need  no  longer 
look  for  him,  but  should  track  out  the  doctor  with  all  haste. 
As  they  could  find  nothing  in  my  house  they  ceased  their  search 
and  went  away;  but  in  an  hour  afterward  a  captain  and  a.bout 
titty  Streltsi  returned,  and  said  that  they  had  orders  to  take  me 
with  them  to  the  palace  that  I  might  be  confronted  with  the 
son  of  the  doctor,  who  had  said  that  his  father  bad  been  con- 
cealed by  me.  They  immediately  seized  on  me  and  wished  to 
take  me  off,  undressed  as  I  Mas,  without  my  hose  and  without 
my  underclothing.  I  begged  most  humbly  that  they  would  first 
let  me  dress  myself  and  ride  my  horse  into  the  town.     My  wife 


1682.]         ADVENTURE   OF   THE   DANISH    RESIDENT.  57 

also  fell  on  her  knees  before  them,  begging  them  with  tears. 
So  at  last  they  permitted  me  to  dress  myself  in  the  court-yard, 
for  they  would  not  allow  me  to  stir  a  step  from  them.  But 
when  my  horse  was  brought  and  I  wished  to  mount  it  they 
would  not  allow  me,  saying  I  could  go  as  well  on  foot ;  but  at 
last,  after  many  prayers.  I  obtained  this.  Thereupon  I  took 
leave  of  my  wife  with  tears  in  my  eyes ;  but  when  I  came  out 
into  the  street  the  bountiful  God  gave  me  the  happy  thought 
to  keep  still  a  little,  and  then,  calling  the  captain  of  the  Streltsi 
close  to  me,  I  said :  "  God  be  praised  !  I  am  not  guilty,  no  never  ; 
I  have  a  clear  conscience  and  do  not  doubt  that  as  soon  as  I  go 
to  the  castle  you  will  let  me  go.  Then  if  you  will  accompany 
me  home  again  I  will  treat  you  to  as  much  brandy  and  beer  as 
y<  (a  like,  but  since  the  streets  are  full  of  your  comrades  who  do 
not  know  anything  about  me  you  must  take  care  that  none  of 
your  men  who  meet  me  do  me  any  harm.  Say  that  I  am  an 
ambassador  who  has  been  called  to  the  court."  This  the  captain 
and  his  Streltsi  promised  to  do,  and  they  kept  their  word. 

'  Whenever  a  body  of  Streltsi  met  us  they  cried  out :  "  Get 
out  of  the  way !  An  ambassador  is  going  to  talk  with  His  Tsar- 
ish  Majesty,''  whereupon  the  Streltsi  immediately  made  way. 
When  I  was  near  the  palace  in  the  great  square  of  the  Bazaar, 
I  saw  to  my  right  a  colonel  named  Dokturof  led  off  by  the 
Streltsi  to  be  killed,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  road  through 
which  I  had  to  pass,  many  dead  bodies  lay  terribly  mutilated, 
whereupon  I  was  very  much  frightened.  And  what  terrified 
me  most  was  that  some  of  the  Streltsi  coming  from  the  Krem- 
lin, when  they  saw  me  all  cried  out :  "  That  is  Doctor  Daniel. 
Give  him  here,  the  traitor  and  magician ! "  My  Streltsi  had 
enough  to  do  to  keep  them  back,  continually  calling  out :  "  Keep 
1  i;u-k !  It  is  not  Doctor  Daniel,  but  an  ambassador  who  must 
speak  with  the  Tsar,"  so  that  when  I  came  to  the  Kremlin  gate 
it  was  immediately  opened  and  instantly  shut  behind  me  again. 
After  I  had  ridden  on  a  little  I  met  several  Streltsi  dragging 
along  the  naked  dead  body  of  the  doctor's  son.  Then  my  cap- 
tain said  to  me,  though  he  did  not  leave  my  side :  "  This  is  the 
doctor's  son;  with  whom,  then,  can  you  be  confronted?"  I 
thereupon  was  silent  a  little.  When  I  came  to  the  great  square, 
which  was  full  of  armed  Streltsi,  they  began  to  beat  their  drums 


58  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

and  sound  the  alarm  bells,  which  was  their  sign  to  kill  some 
one.  But  Almighty  ( rod  gave  me  great  courage,  and  my  Streltsi 
cried  out :  "  Keep  still !  This  is  an  ambassador  who  must  speak 
with  his  Majesty."  Space  was  made  for  me  to  ride  on  as  far  as 
the  stone  staircase,  where  the  lately  widowed  Tsaritsa  and  the 
Princess  Sophia  Alexeievna  were  standing  with  several  gentle- 
men. I  wanted,  indeed,  to  go  farther,  but  my  Streltsi  could 
make  no  space,  for  the  square  was  so  full  of  people  that  one 
could  have  walked  on  their  heads.  Then  the  boyar  Prince  Ivan 
Andreievitch  Havansky  came  down  and  asked  the  Streltsi :  "  Is 
it  your  pleasure  that  the  oldest  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  Xaryshkin  shall 
no  longer  remain  at  court  %  "  They  all  cried  out :  "  Yes,  that  is 
our  pleasure."  But  as  Havansky  turned  round  he  looked  into 
my  face,  was  much  astonished,  and  asked  me :  "  Andrei  Ivano- 
vitch  " — for  that  is  my  name  in  Russian — "  how  did  you  get 
here  ? "  I  pointed  to  my  Streltsi  and  said  :  "  They  brought  me 
here,"  and  then  stepped  nearer  to  him  until  I  was  two  steps 
from  the  Tsaritsa  and  the  Princess,  to  whom  Havansky  said 
something  in  a  voice  too  low  for  me  to  hear,  but  which  was 
probably  nothing  bad,  for  the  Princess  waved  her  hand  to  me 
to  go  away.  Prince  Ivan  Andreievitch  called  out  to  my  Streltsi : 
"  Take  this  man  home  again,  and  guard  him  as  you  would  your 
eyes,"  and  then  made  a  flattering  speech  about  me.  As  soon  as 
I  got  out  of  the  sight  of  those  high  personages  the  Streltsi  who 
accompanied  me  said :  "  Andrei  Ivanovitch,  cover  thy  head. 
Thou  hast  now  perfectly  established  thy  innocence."  As  I  came 
to  the  great  staircase,  the  Streltsi  who  stood  about  there  thought 
that  I,  like  others,  should  be  thrown  down,  and  when  they  saw 
my  Streltsi  take  me  past  the  staircase,  they  all  pressed  near  and 
asked  why  I  was  there  and  why  I  was  let  go,  and  some  still  had 
an  idea  that  I  was  Doctor  Daniel.  But  my  Streltsi  kept  their 
word  and  cried  out  that  I  was  an  ambassador  and  had  spoken 
with  the  Princess,  and  that  they  should  let  me  have  my  horse 
and  go  my  way;  but  the  crowd  was  so  great  that  I  could  not 
get  my  horse  at  once,  but  at  last,  after  pressing  a  long  time 
through  the  crowd,  I  got  it  and  rode  home,  all  the  Streltsi  ac- 
companying me,  joined  by  many  others.  Some  ran  on  as  fast 
as  they  could  to  bring  my  wife  news  that  I  had  been  found  in- 
nocent and  let  free,  for  I  was  obliged  to  go  slowly  and  quietly, 


1682.]         ADVENTURE   OF.  THE  DANISH   RESIDENT.  59 

and  make  no  uneasy  countenance.  When  I  came  home  I  was 
received  by  all  my  people  as  one  escaped  from  death's  claws. 
To  the  Streltsi,  who  had  now  increased  to  over  two  hundred,  I 
immediately  had  given  as  much  brandy  and  beer  as  they  could 
drink.  Three  of  the  highest  came  into  my  room  and  said : 
"Now  give  us  some  money."  I  answered  ''yes,"  and  thought 
twenty  rubles  would  be  sufficient ;  whereupon  they  laughed 
scornfully,  and  demanded  from  me  a  thousand  rubles.  At  this 
I  was  horrified ;  whereupon  they  said :  "  Andrei  Ivanovitch, 
content  us  well,  or  we  will  leave  no  life  in  thy  house.  Dost 
thou  not  know  that  we  have  the  power  ?  everything  must 
tremble  before  us ;  and  no  harm  can  come  to  us  for  that."  I 
said :  "  You  gentlemen  were  ordered  to  bring  me  home  without 
harm  ;  and  now  will  you  yourselves  murder  me  '.  Therefore  do 
what  you  will;  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  get  so  much  money." 
Then  they  cut  down  half ;  and  at  last  I  agreed  with  those  three 
persons  to  give  every  one  of  their  men  half  a  ruble  each.  When 
they  went  out  the  other  Streltsi  woidd  not  agree  to  this,  and 
said  that  they  must  each  have  a  ruble.  The  three  men,  how- 
ever, said :  "We  have  agreed  with  the  landlord  for  half  a  ruble, 
and  cannot  take  our  wrords  back ;  you  must,  therefore,  be  con- 
tented." Whereupon  they  all  kept  still.  I  then  had  the  money 
counted  out,  and  wrapped  each  half  ruble  separately  in  a  paper, 
and  had  the  Streltsi  counted,  when  we  found  them  to  be  iJs7 
men  strong.  They  then  sat  in  a  circle  all  about  my  court-yard, 
and  the  money  was  given  out  to  them  by  two  men,  and  after 
they  had  all  once  more  taken  a  drink  and  had  thanked  me  most 
heartily,  they  went  away.  When  they  were  out  of  the  court- 
yard, I  fell  on  my  knees,  together  with  my  family,  and  thanked 
God  for  his  gracious  preservation  and  assistance,  for  according 
to  all  appearances  if  I  had  gone  out  without  my  clothes  and  on 
foot  I  should  not  have  come  out  of  their  hands  alive.  If  a 
single  man  of  the  Streltsi  who  accompanied  me  had  lifted  his 
finger  to  mark  me  out  I  should  have  been  killed.  The  same 
day  another  party  came  to  look  for  the  doctor,  but  they  were 
somewhat  more  civil  than  the  first  time ;  and  in  the  night  (or 
early  on  the  Wednesday  morning)  still  another  party  of  Streltsi 
came  and  searched  through  my  house.  They  also  were  civil 
enough,  but  they  terrified  us  a  great  deal,  because  we  felt  there 


60  PETER  THE   GKEAT. 

would  l)c  no  cud  of  it  until  the  doctor  was  found,  for  the 
Streltsi  were  immoderately  embittered  against  him.  When  at 
daybreak  the  news  came  that  the  doctor  had  been  found,  all  we 
neighbours  were  right  glad,  although  we  knew  he  was  innocent ; 
yet  he  could  not  have  escaped,  and  we  were  saved  from  much 
anxiety.  That  same  day  I  asked  the  boyar  Prince  Basil  Go- 
litsyn  (who  had  taken  charge  of  the  Department  of  Foreign 
A  Hairs,  instead  of  Larion  Ivanof)  to  give  me  some  Streltsi  as 
a  guard,  which  was  done;  and  on  Thursday  five  Streltsi  were 
put  in  my  house,  and  changed  every  day.' 

The  old  Karyshkin,  the  father  of  the  Tsaritsa,  with  his  sons, 
several  other  relatives,  and  the  son  of  Matveief,  a  youth  of  sev- 
enteen, concealed  themselves  at  first  in  the  dark  closets  in  the 
bedroom  of  the  little  Princess  Katalia,  but  were  afterwards 
taken  to  the  further  room  of  the  Tsaritsa  Martha,  which  had  no 
windows,  and  was  next  to  the  court  of  the  Patriarch's  palace. 
Here  Ivan  Xaryshkin,  who  was  particularly  sought  after  by  the 
Streltsi,  cut  off  his  long  hair,  and  then  an  old  bedchamber- 
woman,  Blush — who  was  the  only  one  who  knew  exactly  where 
they  were  concealed— took  them  out  in  the  morning  into  a  dark 
store-room  on  the  ground  floor,  covered  up  the  windows  with 
pillows,  and  wished  to  shut  them  in  there,  but  Matveief  said 
'Xo;  if  you  fasten  the  door,  the  Streltsi  will  suspect  something, 
Avill  break  it  open  and  find  us  and  kill  us.'  The  room  was 
therefore  made  perfectly  dark,  and  the  door  was  left  open  a  few 
inches,  while  the  refugees  crowded  together  in  a  dark  corner 
behind  it.  '  We  had  scarcely  got  there,'  says  young  Matveief, 
'  before  several  Streltsi  passed  and  looked  quickly  round.  Some 
of  them  peered  in  through  the  open  door,  struck  their  spears 
into  the  pillows,  saying  spitefully :  "  It  is  plain  our  men  have 
already  been  here."  ' 

That  day  the  Streltsi  captured  Ivan  Yazykof  on  the  Nikits- 
kaya  street  as  he  was  hurrying  to  a  church  to  conceal  himself. 
He  was  met  by  a  servant  who  knew  him.  Yaz}'kof  pulled  off  a 
valuable  ring  from  his  finger  and  giving  it  to  him  begged  him 
not  to  tell  anybody.  The  rascal  promised  not  to  do  so  ;  but  im- 
mediately called  some  Streltsi,  who  ran  up,  looked  through  the 
church  and  found  Yazykof,  dragged  him  with  jeers  to  the  Red 
Place  and  killed  him. 


1682.] 


1II0T   OF   THE   STRELTSI. 


01 


On  the  third  day,  May  27,  the  Streltsi  again  came  to  the 
Kremlin,  and  to  the  beating  of  drums  stationed  themselves 
about  the  palace,  while  some  of  them  climbed  straight  up  to  the 
balcony  and  insisted  on  the  surrender  of  Ivan  Naryshkin.  They 
threatened  all  the  servitors  of  the  palace  with  death  if  they  did 
not  find  him,  and  declared  that  they  would  not  leave  the  Krem- 
lin until  they  had  possession  of  him.  They  even  threatened  the 
life  of  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia  and  of  the  other  members  of  the 
Tsar's  family.  At  last  it  became  evident  that  nothing  could  be 
done,  and  the  Princess  So- 
phia went  to  Natalia  and 
said  :  '  There  is  no  way  of 
getting  out  of  i.t ;  to  save  the 
lives  of  all  of  us  you  must 
give  up  your  brother.'  Na- 
talia, after  useless  protests, 
then  brought  out  Ivan  Na- 
ryshkin  and  conducted  him 
into  the  Church  of  the 
Saviour  beyond  the  "Wicket. 
Here  he  received  the  Holy 
Communion  and  prepared 
himself  for  death.  Sophia 
handed  him  an  image  of  the 
Virgin  and  said,  'Perhaps 
when  the  Streltsi  see  this 
holy  picture  they  will  let  him 
go.'  All  in  the  palace  were 
so  terrified  that  it  seemed  to 
them  that  Ivan  Naryshkin 

was  lingering  too  long.  Even  the  old  Prince  Jacob  Odo- 
iefsky,  a  kindly  but  timorous  old  man,  went  up  to  the  Tsaritsa 
and  said :  '  How  long,  O  lady,  you  are  keeping  your  brother. 
For  you  must  give  him  up.  Go  on  quickly,  Ivan  Kirilovitch, 
and  don't  let  us  all  be  killed  for  your  sake.'  The  Tsaritsa 
led  him  as  far  as  the  Golden  Wicket,  where  the  Streltsi  stood. 
They  immediately  seized  on  him  and  began  to  indulge  in 
all  sorts  of  abuse  and  insult  before  her  eyes.  He  was  dragged 
by  the  feet  down  the  staircase  through  the  square  to  the  Con- 


Ivcin  Naryshkin. 


62  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

stantine  torture-room.  Though  most  fearfully  tortured,  Xa- 
rfshkin  shut  his  teeth  and  uttered  not  a  word.  Here  was  also 
brought  J)r.  Daniel  von  Gaden,  who  was  caught  in  the  dress  of 
a  beggar,  wearing  bark  sandals,  and  with  a  wallet  over  his 
shoulders.  He  had  escaped  from  the  town  and  had  passed  two 
davs  in  the  woods,  but  had  become  so  famished  that  he  had 
returned  to  the  German  quarter  to  get  some  food  from  an  ac- 
quaintance, when  he  was  recognised  and  arrested.  Yon  Gaden, 
in  the  midst  of  his  tortures,  begged  for  three  days  more,  in 
which  he  promised  to  name  those  who  deserved  death  more  than 
he.  His  words  were  written  down,  while  others  cried  out : 
'  What  is  the  use  of  listening  to  him  ?  Tear  up  the  paper,'  and 
dragged  him,  together  with  Xarvshkin,  from  the  torture-room 
to  the  Red  Place.  They  were  both  lifted  up  on  the  points  of 
spears ;  afterward  their  hands  and  feet  were  cut  off,  and  their 
bodies  chopped  into  small  pieces  and  trampled  into  the  mud. 
With  these  two  deaths  the  murders  came  to  an  end.  The 
Streltsi  went  from  the  Red  Place  to  the  palace  of  the  Kremlin 
and  cried :  '  We  are  now  content.  Let  your  Tsarish  Majesty 
do  with  the  other  traitors  as  may  seem  good.  We  are  ready 
to  lay  down  our  heads  for  the  Tsar,  for  the  Tsaritsa,  for  the 
Tsarevitch  and  the  Tsarevnas.' 

That  very  day  permission  was  granted  for  the  burial  of  the 
bodies,  many  of  which  had  been  lying  in  the  Red  Place  since 
the  first  day  of  the  riot ;  and  the  faithful  black  servant  of  old 
Matveief  went  out  with  a  sheet  and  collected  the  mutilated  re- 
mains of  his  master,  and  carried  them  on  pillows  to  the  parish 
church  of  St.  ^Nicholas,  where  they  were  buried. 

On  May  28,  deputies  of  the  Streltsi  regiments  came  unarmed 
to  the  palace  and  petitioned  the  Tsar  to  order  his  grandfather, 
Cyril  Xarvshkin,  to  be  tonsured  as  a  monk.  The  old  man  was 
immediately  taken  across  the  Kremlin  to  the  Miracle  Monas- 
tery, and  after  taking  monastic  vows  under  the  name  of  Cyp- 
rian was  carried  off  in  a  small  cart  to  the  monastery  of  St. 
Cyril  on  the  White  Lake.  His  younger  sons,  Leo,  Martemian 
and  Theodore,  succeeded  in  escaping  from  Moscow  in  common 
grey  peasant  clothing  under  the  care  of  some  of  their  -faithful 
servants,  and  concealed  themselves  in  distant  places,  as  did  some 
of  their  relatives.     Through  the  kindness  of  a  dwarf  named 


1682.]  END    OF    THE    KIOT.  63 

Komar  who  was  much  attached  to  Peter,  young  Matveief  wae 
disguised  as  a  groom,  and  boldly  went  out  with  the  dwarf 
down  the  chief  staircase.  There  the  dwarf  mounted  his  horse, 
which  Matveief  led,  and  they  went  through  the  Kremlin  and  the 
White  Town  to  the  Smolensk  Gate,  where  the  strong  guard 
fortunately  did  not  recognise  him.  lie  was  handed  over  to  the 
care  of  the  priest  of  the  Church  of  the  Descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  with  an  order  from  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  to  conceal  him. 
The  priest  passed  him  on  to  a  groom,  a  relative  of  his,  where 
he  lived  in  peasant  clothing  for  some  time  under  the  name  of 
Kondrat,  and  then  wandered  from  one  place  to  another  until 
quiet  was  restored.  Three  days  after  this,  on  May  30,  the 
Streltsi  petitioned  again  that  the  Tsar  should  exile  the  brothers, 
Likhatchef,  the  rest  of  the  Xaryshkins  and  young  Matveief,  and 
some  other  adherents  of  Peter.  This  decree  was  immediately 
issued.1 

1  Solovief,  vols.  xiii.  xiv.  and  app.  ;  TJstrialof,  I.  ch.  ii.  and  app. ,  with  re- 
port of  Rosenbusch  ;  Aristof ;  Matveief ' s  Memoirs;  A.  Bruckner,  Peter  der 
Grouse,  Berlin,  1879 ;  Reports  of  Residents,  in  Dutch  Archives. 


VII. 


IVAN  ELECTED  TSAR  JOINTLY  WITH  PETER.— SOPHIA  APPOINTED 
REGENT.— PACIFICATION   OF   THE    STRELTSI.— 1682. 

When  once  the  fury  of  a  mob  lias  been  excited  by  the  sight 
of  blood,  it  will  commit  deeds  which  at  first  all  would  have 
looked  on  with  abhorrence  ;  and  it  is  rare  that  a  riot,  beginning 
from  whatever  cause,  does  not  end  in  conflagration,  pillage,  and 
robbery.  Singularly  enough,  it  was  not  so  with  the  riot  of  the 
Streltsi.  The  soldiery  satisfied  their  desire  for  revenge  by  kill- 
ing the  men  whom  they  had  had  cause  to  dislike  in  their  cam- 
paigns, or  whom  they  believed  to  be  injurious  to  the  State. 
They  pillaged  the  Department  of  Serfage,  in  order  to  set  free 
the  peasants  and  gain  themselves  supporters,  but  they  carefully 
abstained  from  the  indiscriminate  pillage  of  private  houses. 
That  they  entered  driiiking-kouses  and  ate  and  drank  without 
payment  was  what  might  naturally  be  expected  under  the  cir- 
cumstances. Itosenbusch  and  all  the  eye-witnesses  explicitly 
state  that  the  Streltsi  gave  strict  orders  that  no  pillage  should 
be  allowed,  and  kept  watch  that  no  persons  pretending  to  be 
Streltsi  should  attack  and  rob  the  people,  either  in  the  town  or 
in  the  environs.  About  forty  persons,  some  of  them  Streltsi, 
and  some  poor  peasants,  were  executed  for  having  stolen  goods 
in  their  possession,  though  the  value  of  some  articles  did  not 
exceed  four  kopeks  (about  eight  cents). 

Xot  feeling  yet  satisfied  with  the  indemnity  for  the  losses 
of  pay  and  subsistence,  caused  by  the  cheating  and  robbery  of 
their  officers,  the  Streltsi,  as  soon  as  the  murders  were  over, 
and  before  even  the  bodies  were  buried,  petitioned  the  .Govern- 
ment to  grant  them  a  sum  of  two  hundred  and  forty  thousand 
rubles  (s4D5,000)  as  back  pay,  and  also  to  confiscate  the  prop- 


1682.] 


CHANGES   IN   THE   GOVERNMENT. 


65 


erty  of  those  officers  and  magnates  who  had  been  killed  in  the 
riot,  and  distribute  it  among  them. 

Frightened  as  the  inmates  of  the  palace  were,  they  were 
unable  to  admit  demands  like  these,  and  they  finally  succeeded, 
by  a  liberal  supply  of  drink,  in  compromising  at  the  rate  of  ten 
rubles  ($20)  to  each  man,  and  by  putting  up  at  auction  the  per- 
sonal property  of  those  killed,  when  the  Streltsi  were  enabled 
to  buy  what  was  for  sale  without  much  competition.  The 
money  to  pay  the  Streltsi  had  to  be  raised  by  a  general  tax,  and 
for  the  necessities  of  the  moment  much  of  the  silver  plate  of 
the  palace  was  melted  down 

and    coined     into    money.  ^ggggBte^ 

Yan  Keller  wrote: — 'The  ^^jj     \Lj 

new  Government  is  trying 
to  content  the  Streltsi  and 
the  soldiers,  but  a  great 
amount  of  money  is  neces- 
sary, and  additional  taxes 
and  contributions  are  put 
upon  everybody.  This 
ought  to  be  a  good  lesson 
to  those  vile  gain- seekers, 
and  extortioners  of  gifts 
and  presents.' 

A  new  Government 
had,  indeed,  been  formed 
by  circumstances  and  of  it- 
self, without  apparently 
any  orders  from  Peter  or 
his  mother,  but  called  out 

by  the  necessities  of  the  moment.  We  see  by  the  relation  of 
Posenbusch,  the  Danish  Resident,  that  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
riot,  the  Princess  Sophia  had  been  brought  prominently  forward, 
and  had  endeavoured  to  pacify  the  rioters.  This  was  not  strange, 
for  she  surpassed  all  the  other  princesses  in  natural  abilities  as 
well  as  in  strength  of  mind  and  character.  She  had  received  an 
education  more  masculine  than  feminine,  having  shared  the 
studies  of  her  brother  Theodore.  She  had  been  much  with  her 
brother  during  the  last  months  of  his  life,  had  been  at  his  bed- 
Vol.  I.— 5 


The  Princess  Sophia,  Sister  of  Peter 


bb  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

side  during  his  illness,  and  had  in  this  way  gradually  and  invol- 
untarily come  to  be  acquainted  with  affairs  of  state,  and  to  be 
the  medium  by  which  the  orders  of  the  Tsar  had  been  trans- 
mitted. It  was  in  Theodore's  sick-chamber  that  she  first  knew 
Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  and  it  was  there  she  began  to  judge  of 
the  characters  of  officials  and  statesmen.  She  alone  preserved 
her  presence  of  mind  throughout  the  riots,  and  it  was  but  natural 
that  all  should  turn  to  her  for  advice  or  orders.  Xew  officials 
stepped  into  the  places  and  began  to  perform  the  duties  of  those 
who  had  been  killed,  without  at  first  any  rightful  authority,  al- 
though they  were  afterwards  confirmed  in  their  offices.  In  this 
way  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn  took  charge  of  the  Department  of  For- 
eign Affairs,  Prince  Havansky  of  the  Department  of  the  Streltsi, 
and  Prince  Ivan  Miloslavsky  of  several  other  departments. 

The  feeling  that  there  was  a  certain  illegality  in  the  election 
of  Peter,  to  the  exclusion  of  his  elder  brother,  Ivan,  was  strong 
among  the  Streltsi,  and  was  doubtless  greatly  increased  by  the 
partisans  of  the  Miloslavskys,  whose  own  interests  would  have 
been  advanced  by  the  accession  of  Ivan.  They  did  not,  how- 
ever, demand  the  actual  deposition  of  Peter,  for  he  was  the  son 
of  a  Tsar,  and  had  himself  been  proclaimed  Tsar  by  the  Patri- 
arch. They  proposed  to  make  Ivan  Tsar  also.  On  June  3, 
Prince  Havansky  reported  to  the  Princesses  that  the  Streltsi 
had  sent  a  deputation  to  say  that  they,  and  all  classes  of  the 
Muscovite  State,  desired  that  both  brothers,  Peter  and  Ivan, 
should  reign  together,  threatening,  if  this  were  refused,  to  come 
again  to  the  Kremlin  with  their  arms,  and  prepared  for  attack. 
The  chief  nobles  and  officials  who  could  be  found  were  hastily 
called  together,  but  as  they  were  unwilling  to  take  the  responsi- 
bility of  deciding  the  matter,  a  special  council  was  summoned 
in  the  palace,  to  which  were  invited  not  only  the  officials,  but 
also  the  Patriarch,  the  archbishops  and  the  leading  clergy, 
and  deputies  of  the  Muscovite  State.  Such  deputies  happened 
to  be  in  Moscow  at  that  time,  having  been  called  there  by 
Theodore,  shortly  before  his  death,  for  the  purpose  of  equal- 
ising taxation  ;  but  whether  these  men  took  part  in  the  coun- 
cil, or  only  deputies  from  the  city  of  Moscow,  is  a  matter  of 
question. 

The  threat  that  the  Streltsi  might   make  another  attack 


1682.]  ELECTION   OF   IVAN.  67 

brought  nearly  all  the  nobles  to  the  Assembly,  and  the  proposi- 
tion of  a  double  reign  was  urged  as  in  the  highest  degree  advan- 
tageous ;  for  it  was  maintained  that  when  one  Tsar  went  to  the 
wars,  the  other  could  stay  at  home  to  govern  the  country.  Ex- 
amples in  history  were  not  wanting,  and  members  of  the  council 
cited  in  the  discussions  the  cases  of  Pharaoh  and  Joseph,  Arca- 
dius  and  Honorius,  Basil  and  Constantine.  Under  the  threat  of 
the  Streltsi,  discussion  was  hardly  free,  and  the  partisans  of  Peter 
had  suffered  too  much  to  make  strong  opposition.  It  was,  there- 
fore, soon  decided  that  both  the  brothers  should  reign  together. 
The  great  bell  was  rung,  prayers  were  said  in  the  Cathedral  of 
the  Assumption,  and  solemn  petitions  put  up  for  the  long  life 
of  the  most  Orthodox  Tsars,  Ivan  Alexeievitch  and  Peter 
Alexeievitch.  It  was  with  difficulty  that  Ivan  could  be  induced 
by  his  sisters  to  take  even  a  nominal  part  in  the  Government. 
He  alleged  the  defects  of  his  sight  and  speech,  and  said  that  he 
cared  more  for  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life  than  for  the  world's 
government,  but  he  would  assist  his  younger  brother  in  council 
and  action.  By  the  terms  of  the  proclamation  in  the  Cathedral, 
the  name  of  Ivan  was  mentioned  first,  as  the  elder  brother,  and 
he  was  in  this  way  given  precedence  over  Peter;  but,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  row  into  which  the  Streltsi  had  got  with  parti- 
sans of  Peter,  among  the  populace,  who  laughed  at  the  idea  of 
Ivan  really  being  Tsar,  the  leaders  of  the  Streltsi  felt  it  neces- 
sary to  express  more  clearly  the  relations  between  the  brothers, 
and  a  deputation  came  to  the  palace  begging  that  Ivan  should 
be  the  first  Tsar,  and  Peter  the  second,  and  obedient  to  his  elder 
brother.  Two  days  later,  on  June  5,  there  came  another  depu- 
tation of  Streltsi,  demanding  that  on  account  of  the  youth  and  in- 
experience of  both  the  Tsars,  the  Government  should  be  carried 
on  by  the  Princess  Sophia,  as  Regent.  When  this  proposition 
was  discussed  in  the  council,  an  historical  example  was  again 
adduced  ;  for  had  not  Pulcheria  been  Regent  during  the  youth 
of  her  brother,  Theodosius  ?  Sophia  was,  therefore,  asked  to 
take  up  the  reins  of  government.  She  at  first  refused,  but  on 
being  sufficiently  pressed  consented.  A  decree  announcing  the 
joint  accession  of  Ivan  and  Peter  and  the  regency  of  Sophia 
during  their  infancy,  was  issued  the  same  day  and  sent  to  the 
different  provinces  of  the  Empire. 


68  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

Meanwhile,  to  conciliate  and  to  acquire  a  greater  influence 
over  them,  the  Government  had  given  to  the  Streltsi  the  hon- 
orary appellation  of  the  '  Palace  Guard.'  They  had  been  com- 
plimented for  their  loyalty  and  fidelity  by  Sophia  herself,  and 
had  been  feasted  in  the  courts  and  corridors  of  the  palace  at  the 
rate  of  two  regiments  a  day.  The  Princess  Sophia  herself  had 
even  handed  round  cups  of  vodka  to  the  men.  But  in  spite  of 
these  feasts  and  honours,  the  Streltsi  did  not  feel  quite  easy  in 
conscience.  Although  they  had  made  a  change  in  the  Govern- 
ment, yet  it  was  carried  on  by  the  same  sort  of  people  as  be- 
fore. Certain  boyars  had  been  killed,  but  their  places  had  been 
taken  by  others  in  all  respects  like  them.  The  enthusiasm  with 
which  the  movement  had  started  gradually  died  out.  The 
Streltsi  recognised  their  own  incapacity  for  governing,  and 
despaired  of  any  permanent  good  from  their  efforts.  They 
knew  that  they  had  acted  in  a  manner  contrary  to  law  and  dis- 
cipline— that  they  were  in  fact  rebels.  They  had  offended  the 
boyar  class,  not  only  by  their  riot  and  murders,  but  by  then"  ac- 
tion in  favour  of  the  serfs ;  and  at  last — for  discipline  had  in 
the  end  proved  too  strong  for  them — they  had  placed  them- 
selves in  a  position  of  antagonism  to  the  serfs.  On  the  very 
day,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  action  of  the  Streltsi,  Sophia 
was  proclaimed  Regent,  many  of  the  serfs  had  united  in  a  pe- 
tition for  their  freedom,  complaining  of  the  measures  which  the 
boyars,  their  late  masters,  had  taken  against  them.  This  peti- 
tion was  rejected  with  contempt  by  the  Government,  and  the 
Streltsi  were  ordered  to  hunt  out  and  catch  the  runaway  serfs, 
to  torture,  imprison,  and  punish  them,  and  to  restore  them  to 
their  masters.  More  than  this,  the  Streltsi  were  induced  to 
declare  that  they  had  no  sympathy  with  the  serfs,  and  would 
not  assist  them  against  their  masters.  About  the  time  of  Pen- 
tecost, there  were  numerous  conflicts  between  the  Streltsi  and 
the  fugitive  serfs.  There  were  night  alarms,  and  the  bells  of  the 
churches  were  rung  even  in  the  German  suburb.  Many  of  the 
surfs  who  resisted  being  cut  down  mercilessly  by  the  Streltsi, 
the  others  became  frightened,  and  began  gradually  to  return  to 
their  masters.  .    . 

AVhile  the  Streltsi  felt  safe  in  Moscow,  where  the  popula- 
tion, if  not  sympathetic,  was  at  least  afraid  of  them,  they  knew 


*4tfi-  ~~ % 


1682.]  PACIFICATION   OF   THE   STRELTSI.  69 

that  it  would  be  comparatively  easy  for  the  boyars  to  raise  an 
army  of  their  adherents  in  the  more  distant  provinces,  lead 
them  to  Moscow  and  obtain  the  upper  hand.  To  secure  them- 
selves as  much  as  possible  against  such  an  event,  they  presented 
to  the  Government,  through  Alexis  Yiidin  (one  of  their  leaders, 
and  the  right  hand  of  Prince  Havansky),  a  petition,  which  was 
at  the  same  time  a  justification,  purporting  to  be  not  only  from 
the  Streltsi  themselves,  but  also  from  all  the  burghers  of  Mos- 
cow. In  this  they  attempted  to  explain  and  defend  their  con- 
duct during  the  riots.  They  asserted  that  they  had  taken  up 
arms  on  May  25  to  protect  the  family  of  the  Tsar  from  great 
harm ;  that  they  had  punished  Prince  Yury  and  Prince  Michael 
Dolgoruky,  for  insults  which  they  had  long  given  to  them,  and 
for  the  harm  which  they  had  wrought  in  depriving  them  of 
their  pay,  and  in  other  great  injustice.  They  had  killed  Larion 
Ivanof,  because  he  had  joined  with  the  Dolgoruky s,  and  had 
threatened  to  hang  them  all.  They  had  killed  Prince  Eamo- 
danofsky,  believing  him  to  be  guilty  of  treachery  in  delivering 
up  Tchigirin  to  the  Turks  and  the  Tartars.  They  had  killed 
Yazykof,  because  he  had  taken  the  side  of  their  colonels,  had 
put  great  assessments  upon  them,  and  had  taken  bribes.  They 
had  killed  the  boyar  Matveief  and  Dr.  Daniel  von  Gaden,  be- 
cause they  had  poisoned  the  Tsar  Theodore  with  herbs,  and  had 
wished  to  poison  the  present  Tsar,  which  Dr.  Daniel  had  con- 
fessed when  tortured.  They  had  killed  Ivan  and  Athanasius 
X:tryshkin,  because  they  had  tried  on  the  Imperial  crown,  and 
had  plotted  all  sorts  of  evil  against  the  Tsar  Ivan,  just  as  they 
had  done  before  against  the  Tsar  Theodore  Alexeievitch,  for 
which  they  had  been  exiled.  They  therefore  asked  permission 
to  erect  on  the  Ked  Place  a  column,  on  which  should  be  in- 
scribed the  names  of  these  evildoers,  and  the  crimes  for  which 
they  were  killed  ;  and  desired  that  a  document,  with  red  seals, 
should  be  given  to  all  the  regiments  of  the  Streltsi,  to  the  sol- 
diers, and  to  all  the  people  of  the  suburbs,  that  none  of  the 
boyars  or  councillors  should  revile  them,  or  kill  them  as  rioters 
or  traitors,  and  that  no  one  should  be  sent  without  reason  into 
exile,  or  beaten  or  punished  because  they  had  served  with 
fidelity.  The  Government  consented:  it  dared  not  refuse. 
Zickler  and  Ozerof  were  ordered  to  carry  out  the  demands  of 


70 


PETElt   THE   GREAT. 


the  Streltsi,  and  a  monument  with  the  proposed  inscription  was 
erected  on  the  Red  Place. 

The  erection  of  this  monument  does  not  seem  to  have  im- 
pressed contemporaries  as  it  does  us.  The  Dutch  Resident  in 
speaking  of  it  says :  '  A  high  pyramid  is  to  be  erected,  giving 
the  faults  of  those  who  were  killed,  and  the  justification  of  the 
massacres.  This  is  a  good  lesson  and  warning  to  the  bribe- 
takers who  have  caused  so  much  disorder.' 

Order  seemed  now  to  be  restored  ;  thanks  were  solemnly 
given  in  the  churches  for  the  end  of  the  riots,  and  the  Tsars 
made  a  pilgrimage  in  state  to  one  of  the  neighbouring  con- 
vents.1 

1  Ustrialof,   I.   ii.  ;   Solovief,   vol.  xiv. ;  Matveief's  Memoirs;  Reports  of 
Dutch  Residents ;  Aristof ;  Bruckner. 


The  Baton  of  Prince  Golftsyn. 


Cathedral  of  the  Assumption,   Moscow,  where  the  Tsars  were  Crowned. 


VIII. 


THE    DISSENTERS  DEMAND    DISCUSSION.— CORONATION  OF    THE 

TSARS.— 1682. 

It  has  already  been  remarked  that  the  siege  and  capture  of 
the  Solovetsky  Monastery  and  the  rigorous  persecution  of  the 
Dissenters  increased  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  people  without 
having  great  effect  in  putting  down  dissent.1  It  produced  a  rup- 
ture between  all  the  old-believers  and  the  Government,  which, 
from  its  using  force  to  put  down  the  true  religion,  made  itself 

1  See  p.  6. 


72  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

unlawful  in  their  eyes.  The  Dissenters  played  a  great  part  in 
the  insurrection  of  Stenka  Razin,  and  in  all  the  popular  move- 
ments of  the  time.  The  administrative  centralisation  of  Russia 
had  at  first  touched  only  the  higher  ranks  of  life,  both  lay  and 
clerical ;  but  gradually  it  began  to  subordinate  to  itself  the  com- 
mon people,  the  villagers,  and  the  parochial  clergy.  In  the 
concealed,  but  no  less  real,  struggle  against  centralisation,  the 
autocracy  obtained  everywhere  the  preponderance  ;  but  discon- 
tent remained  in  the  lower  classes.  As  far  as  concerned  their 
religious  ideas,  this  discontent,  added  to  the  dislike  of  the  new 
dogmas  and  rites,  was  increased  by  the  arrogant  tone  which  the 
superior  clergy  took  toward  the  village  priests  and  toward  the 
mass  of  the  common  people  ;  a  feeling  frequently  expressed  in 
the  writings  of  the  dissenters.  It  was  increased,  too,  by  the 
dislike  the  Russians  felt  to  the  foreigners  settled  in  Russia,  and 
to  the  foreign  influences  that  were  daily  becoming  deeper  and 
wider — influences  not  only  of  the  Germans,  both  Protestant  and 
Catholic,  who  had  entered  the  army,  and  whose  families  lived 
in  the  German  suburb  of  Moscow,  but  also  those  Polish  influ- 
ences which  came  from  the  schools  of  Kief,  and  were  strength- 
ened and  spread  by  the  monks  and  clergy,  who  had  received 
their  education  in  Poland  and  Kief.  There  was  even  a  preju- 
dice against  the  Greek  clergy  from  Constantinople,  who  were 
thought  to  be  less  tainted  with  Latinism  and  Romish  doctrines, 
but  were  accused  of  being  more  eager  to  amass  their  rubles  than 
to  keep  the  purity  of  the  faith.  The  common  people,  in  their 
dislike  of  novelty,  hated  the  Polish  influences  that  made  them- 
selves felt  at  court  and  in  the  administration  ;  and  the  Dis- 
senters, like  the  Streltsi,  laid  all  the  blame  on  the  boyars.  They 
thought  as  Kopytof,  a  Dissenter  exiled  to  the  furthest  part  of 
Siberia,  said :  '  All  in  Moscow  is  according  to  the  will  of  the 
boyars.     What  the  boyars  wish,  that  they  do.' 

Such  convictions  led  the  Dissenters  to  think  that  the  appar- 
ent triumph  of  the  popular  principles  which  had  been  pro- 
claimed in  the  riot  of  the  Streltsi  would  be  advantageous  to  the 
cause  of  what  they  considered  true  religion ;  that  there  would 
be  a  revolution  in  the  habits  and  maxims  of  the  Government, 
and  a  return  to  old  Russian  ideas  and  practices  in  religion  as  well 
as  in  politics. 


THE  DISSENTERS  EXHORTING  THE  PEOPLE  FROM  THE  RED  STAIRCASE. 


1682.]  MOVEMENT   OF   THE  DISSENTERS.  73 

Many  of  the  Streltsi  were  Dissenters,  and  in  some  regiments 
this  belief  predominated  ;  and  it  was  known  that  the  Prince 
Havansky,  their  new  chief,  was  a  great  adherent  of  the  old  be- 
lievers, and  had  for  a  long  time  protected  one  of  their  leaders, 
the  Protopope  Habbakuk,  or  Avvakum.  The  third  day  after 
the  end  of  the  riot  in  the  Kremlin,  the  Streltsi  of  the  Titof 
Regiment,  which  contained  a  particularly  large  number  of  Dis- 
senters, began  to  consider  what  measure  they  might  take  for 
restoring  the  old  belief.  They  resolved  to  write  a  petition  in 
the  name  of  their  comrades  and  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
suburbs,  requesting  the  Government  to  '  restore  the  use  of  the 
old  books  which  were  printed  in  the  time  of  the  orthodox 
princes  and  Tsars,  and  the  five  Russian  Patriarchs,  and  to  cease 
loving  the  Latin-Romish  faith,  devised  according  to  man's  will, 
but  not  according  to  God's.'  After  much  searching  they  found 
a  man  to  write  such  a  petition — a  monk  named  Sergius,  greatly 
respected, '  a  firm  adamant,  skilled  in  learning.'  When  the  peti- 
tion had  been  drawn  up,  and  was  read  in  the  assembly  of  the 
Streltsi,  they  wept  with  astonishment  to  see  how  many  fearful 
heresies  had  crept  into  the  new  books.  They  had  not  the  abil- 
ity to  go  into  details,  but  were  firmly  convinced  that  the  true  faith 
was  being  persecuted.  '  Don't  give  us  up,  O  brethren,  to  be 
persecuted  as  before.  Do  not  allow  us  to  be  tortured  and 
burned,'  cried  Sergius  to  the  assembly. 

'  O  father,  we  are  ready  to  shed  our  blood  for  the  old  piety,' 
answered  a  lieutenant-colonel. 

All  promised  with  one  voice  to  stand  up  for  the  orthodox 
faith,  if  necessary,  even  to  death.  One  of  the  demands  in  this 
petition  was,  that  a  public  discussion  on  the  disputed  points  of 
the  faith  should  be  held  either  on  the  Red  Place  or  in  the 
square  between  the  Cathedrals.  This  discussion  the  Dissenters 
insisted  upon  because,  firmly  believing  the  truth  of  their  doc- 
trines, they  felt  sure  of  an  easy  victory,  and  were  convinced 
that  they  could  readily  get  over  to  their  side  all  the  people 
present.  Prince  Havansky,  when  informed  by  the  Streltsi  that 
the  petition  was  ready,  was  much  pleased,  and  asked  whether 
there  was  anyone  who  would  be  able  to  enforce  the  arguments 
of  the  Dissenting  side.  On  being  informed  that  there  was  an 
old  monk  '  skilful  in  disputations  and  firm  in  the  faith,'  Havan- 


74 


PETER   THE    GREAT. 


sky  requested  them  to  come  to  his  house,  and  fixed  a  time  for 
the  interview. 

The  Dissenters  were  very  warmly  received  by  Ilavansky's 
servants,  but  were  obliged  to  wait  three  hours  until  the  Prince 
could  dismiss  some  guests  who  were  with  him.  At  last  he  came 
in,  and,  seeing  the  monk  about  whom  he  had  heard  so  much, 
bowed  to  the  ground  and  asked  :  '  For  what  hast  thou  come  to 
me,  reverend  father  ? '  Sergius  replied  that  he  had  brought  a 
petition,  with  an  account  of  the  heresies  in  the  new  books.  'I 
myself  am  a  sinner,'  replied  Havansky.  '  I  much  wish  that  all 
should,  as  of  old,  worship  in  the  holy 
Church  unanimously  and  without  differ- 
ence ;  but,  although  I  am  a  sinner,  I  un- 
doubtedly keep  to  the  old  piety.  I  read 
the  old  books,  and  I  sign  myself  with  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  made  by  two  fingers.' 
Havansky  then  recited  the  creed,  with  the 
addition,  thought  indispensable  by  the 
Dissenters,  of  '  and  in  the  real  life-giving 
Holy  Ghost,'  and  continued  :  '  Thus  I  be- 
lieve, and  thus  I  teach,  and  I  pray  God  to 
be  merciful  to  the  Christian  people,  and 
not  to  allow  ( 'hristian  lands  to  be  utterly 
ruined  by  the  present  new  Xikonian  be- 
lief.' According  to  custom,  he  ended  his 
discourse  with  texts.  The  petition  was  then 
read,  but  Havansky  did  not  receive  such 
a  favourable  impression  of  the  '  firm  ada- 
mant '  as  his  supporters  desired.  '  I  see,  O  father/  he  said,  '  that 
you  are  a  peaceful  and  quiet  monk,  not  talkative,  not  eloquent. 
You  are  not  the  man  for  such  a  great  act.  We  must  set  against 
them  a  man  of  many  words,  who  can  reply  to  them.'  Other 
Dissenters  then  suggested  to  Havansky  the  famous  Xikita,  of 
Suzdal,  as  a  fit  man  for  the  time — a  priest  who,  after  having 
been  a  leading  Dissenter,  had  formally  recanted,  but  had  now 
gone  back  again  to  Dissent.  His  adversaries  had  given  him  the 
nickname  of  '  Bladder-head.'  Havansky  was  delighted  with  the 
suggestion,  for  he  had  a  high  opinion  of  Xikita's  abilities,  and 
thought  that  none  of  the  orthodox  could  successfully  oppose 


Orthodox   Sign  of   the    Cross,  in 
Benediction. 


1682.] 


A   RELIGIOUS   DISCUSSION   DEMANDED. 


75 


him  in  dispute.  '  I  am  glad  to  help  you,  brethren,'  he  said, 
and  do  not  at  all  imagine  that,  as  of  old,  you  will  be  punished, 
or  hanged,  or  cut  to  pieces,  or  burned.' 

The  Dissenters  then  demanded  a  public  discussion  at  the 
Lobnoe  Place  in  the  presence  of  the  Tsars  and  of  all  the  people, 
and,  if  not  there,  at  least  in  the  Kremlin  at  the  Red  Staircase, 
and  insisted  that  this  discussion  should  take  place  without  fail 
on  the  following  Friday,  July  3  ;  for  Friday,  by  old  custom, 
had  been  specially  set  apart  for  religious  assemblies.  Havan- 
sky  replied  that  Friday  would  be  impossible,  because  Sunday, 
the  5th,  was  appointed  for  the  coronation  of  the  Tsars.  This 
was  exactly  what  the  Dissenters  wished 
for,  as  they  said :  '  We  desire  that  our  lords 
should  be  crowned  in  the  true  orthodox 
faith,  and  not  according  to  the  Romish- 
Latin  belief.'  Havansky  assured  them 
that  the  two  Tsars  should  be  crowned  ac- 
cording to  the  old  rites  and  usages  existing 
since  the  time  of  Ivan  Vasilievitch.  But 
the  Dissenters  wished  not  alone  the  old 
rites.  They  said :  '  The  Tsars  will  commune 
during  the  Liturgy,  and  the  Patriarch  will 
officiate  according  to  the  new  rite,  and  at 
the  coronation  he  will  urge  the  Tsars  to 
defend  the  new  faith.'  Havansky  could 
not  refute  this,  and  said :  '  Well,  be  it  as 
you  will.  Let  the  assembly  be  for  Friday.' 
The  Dissenters  departed  contented. 

At  early  dawn  of  Friday,  July  3,  the  deputies  of  the 
Streltsi  came  to  Havansky  and  inquired  at  what  time  he  desired 
the  fathers  to  come  to  the  conference.  Havansky  replied,  '  In 
two  hours.'  Two  hours  later  the  fathers  appeared  in  the  Krem- 
lin in  a  triumphal  procession.  Nikita  carried  the  holy  cross, 
made  according  to  the  old  rite,  with  three  bars.  Sergius,  the 
writer  of  the  petition,  bore  the  Gospels,  and  Sabatius,  a  monk, 
who  had  just  arrived  from  the  Volokolamsky  Hermitages, 
carried  a  picture  of  the  '  Last  Judgment.'  Crowds  of  people, 
surprised  at  this  unusual  procession,  collected  in  the  streets,  and 
asked  one  another  in  whispers  what  it  all  meant ;  and  as  they 


Orthodox   Sign  of   the    Cross, 
in  Prayer. 


76 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


followed  the  procession,  recited  in  low  tones,  'Lord,  have  mercy 
upon  us  !  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  us  ! ' 

On  their  arrival  at  the  Kremlin,  the  Dissenters'  procession 
stopped  at  the  lied  Staircase,  and  sent  word  of  their  arrival  to 
Prince  Ilavansky.  They  were  taken,  according  to  custom,  into 
the  Hall  of  Replies,  where  Ilavansky  put  on  an  air  of  ignorance, 
and  went  through  the  usual  formula  of  asking  the  purpose  of 
their  coming;.  At  the  same  time  he  made  obeisance  to  the 
Gospel  and  to  the  cross.  Xikita  replied  ;  '  We  have  come  to 
petition  with  regard  to  the  old  orthodox  faith,  that  the  Patri- 
arch and  the  archbishops  may  be  ordered  to  officiate  according 
to  the  old  rite.  If  the  Patriarch  refuse  to 
do  this,  let  him  answer  in  what  respect 
the  old  books  are  bad,  and  why  he  has 
persecuted  the  adherents  of  the  old  rite.' 
He  promised,  for  himself  and  his  adher- 
ents, to  show  many  heresies  in  the  new 
books.  Ha  van  sky  replied  to  Xikita,  as  he 
had  formerly  done  to  Sergius :  '  I  myself  am 
a  sinner,  but  I  believe  according  to  the  old 
books.'  He  took  the  petition  and  went  up 
to  the  chamber  of  the  Tsars.  .Returning 
in  a  little  time,  he  said  that,  at  the  request 
of  the  Patriarch,  the  Tsars  had  put  off  the 
discussion  of  the  petition  until  "Wednesday, 
as  it  was  an  important  matter,  which  needed 
much  time,  as  the  books  must  be  compared, 
and  he  advised  them  to  come  on  Wednes- 
day, after  dinner.  Xikita,  however,  did 
not  forget  that  the  coronation  was  arranged  for  Sunday,  and 
immediately  asked :  '  How  will  the  Tsars  be  crowned  ? '  '  Ac- 
cording to  the  old  rite,'  answered  Ilavansky.  Xikita  insisted 
that  the  Patriarch  should  officiate  at  the  liturgy,  as  of  old,  with 
seven  wafers,  and  that  the  cross  upon  these  wafers  should  be 
the  real  and  true  cross,  and  not  a  Latin  one.  To  get  rid  of  him, 
Havansky  answered :  '  Bring  me  some  wafers  baked  with  the 
impress  of  the  old  cross.  I  myself  will  take  them  to  the  Patri- 
arch, and  order  him  to  serve  according  to  the  old  rite ;  and  you, 
Father  Niklta,  go  home.' 

Xext  dav,  two  other  refugee   Dissenters   arrived — Father 


Dissenting  Sign  of  the   Cross. 


1682.] 


THE   CORONATION. 


77 


Dorotheus  and  Father  Gabriel.  There  was  great  joy  among 
the  Dissenters,  who  felt  sure  of  a  speedy  triumph.  Nikita 
requested  a  certain  widow  of  his  acquaintance  to  .prepare  the 
wafers  in  the  old  style. 

Although  Xikita  started  out  early  on  Sunday  morning  with 
his  wafers  carefully  packed  in  a  Mallet,  when  he  arrived  at  the 
Kremlin,  he  found  the  crowd  so  great  in  the  square  about  the 
Cathedral  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to 
reach  even  the  barriers. 
Much  against  his  will, 
he  was  obliged  to  re- 
turn, and  coming  sadly 
into  the  assembly  of 
the  faithful,  placed  the 
wafers  on  the  table, 
saying  :  '  Pardon  me, 
O  holy  fathers  !  The 
people  would  not  al- 
low me  to  approach 
the  Cathedral,  and  I 
have  brought  back  the 
wafers.'  They  were, 
therefore,  after  service, 
distributed  among  the 
faithful  at  benediction. 
Meanwhile  the  coro- 
nation had  taken  place. 
On  the  evening  of  July 
4,  1682,  there  was  a 
grand  vesper  service  in 
all  the   churches,  and 

especially  ill  theCatllC-  Double  Throne  used  at  Peter's  Coronation. 

dral  of  the  Assump- 
tion, where  it  was  celebrated  by  the  Patriarch  Joachim,  at- 
tended by  all  the  superior  clergy.  During  the  night  a  square 
platform,  raised  on  twelve  steps,  was  erected  in  the  middle  of 
the  Cathedral,  immediately  under  the  dome,  and  covered  with 
crimson  cloth.  From  this  platform  to  the  chancel,  the  pavement 
was  spread  with  red  cloth,  on  which  two  strips  of  scarlet  velvet 


78  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

were  laid  for  the  Tsars,  and  a  strip  of  blue  for  the  Patriarch. 
On  each  side  were  raised  seats  covered  with  Persian  carpets  and 
cloth-of-gold,  for  the  clergy.  On  the  centre  platform  a  double 
throne  was  erected.  There  had  not  been  time  to  make  entirely 
fresh  regalia  for  the  double  coronation,  and  the  silver-gilt  throne 
of  handsome  workmanship  made  for  the  Tsar  Alexis  was  divi- 
ded by  a  bar  in  the  middle,  so  that  it  could  be  used  by  the  two 
boys.  A  seat  was  placed  behind,  so  that  the  monitor  of  Peter, 
through  the  hole  in  the  back,  could  whisper  to  him  the  neces- 
sary responses.  The  crown,  sceptre,  and  globe,  originally  pres- 
ents from  Constantine  Monomachus,  Emperor  of  the  East,  to  the 
Grand  Duke  Vladimir  of  Kief,  had  been  imitated  in  smaller 
size,  and  at  less  expense,  for  the  use  of  Peter.  The  old  historic 
ones,  with  which  all  the  Tsars  had  been  crowned,  were  reserved 
for  Ivan.  This  was  the  last  time  they  were  ever  used.  The 
successors  of  Peter  were  Emperors,  not  Tsars ;  and  the  crown 
and  pectoral  cross  of  Monomachus,  the  visible  symbols  of  the 
relations  of  the  Muscovite  Tsars  to  the  Emperors  of  Constanti- 
nople, are  now  mere  curiosities  in  the  Imperial  treasury  at  Mos- 
cow. On  the  left  side  of  this  throne  was  a  third  throne,  for  the 
Patriarch,  the  spiritual  emperor.  This,  too,  was  used  for  the 
last  time.  The  power  of  the  clergy  was  to  be  diminished,  and 
the  rule  of  the  Patriarch  to  be  broken. 

In  the  chancel  were  placed  six  reading-desks,  two  lower  than 
the  rest,  covered  with  satin  embroidered  with  jewels,  on  which 
were  to  be  placed  the  crowTn  and  sceptre  and  pectoral  cross  of 
Monomachus,  containing  a  relic  of  the  true  cross. 

At  the  first  dawn  of  day,  on  July  6,  the  bells  began  to  ring 
joyfully  and  there  was  a  great  procession  of  the  clergy  from  all 
the  churches.  At  five  o'clock  the  two  boy  Tsars  went  to  the 
Palace  Chapel  for  matins,  and  then  in  procession  to  the  banquet- 
ing-hall.  Here,  in  honour  of  the  day,  they  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  boyar  Prince  Andrei  TIavansky,  Michael  Plestcheief, 
and  Matthew  Miloslavsky.  Larion  Miloslavsky  and  Zmeief  were 
made  okolnitchi,  and  Ilitrovo  and  Pushetclmikof  appointed 
privy-councillors.  The  Tsars  wore  long  robes  of  cloth-of- 
gold  covered  with  lace  and  fringes,  broad  sleeves,  and  caps  set 
with  precious  stones.  Not  only  were  their  robes  cut  from  the 
.-a me  piece,  but  the  candles  they  held  were  of  the  same  length, 
that  there  might  seem  to  be  no  inequality.     Select  boyars  were 


1682.] 


THE    CORONATION. 


79 


then  sent  to  the  treasury  to  fetch  the  cross,  the  crowns,  the 
sceptres,  and  the  other  regalia,  which  were  brought  in  by 
priests,  and  then  carried  to  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption, 
where  they  were  received  by  the  Patriarch  and  the  superior 
clergy  on  gold  dishes,  and  placed  on  the  lecterns  prepared  for 
them.  On  entering  the  banqueting-hall  the  boyars  informed 
the  Tsars  that  all  was  ready,  and  then  a  long  procession — be- 
ginning with  the  inferior  officials,  rising  to  the  highest  boyars, 


Orb  of  Monomachus. 


Crown  of  Monomachus. 


Orb  of  Peter. 


Crown  of  Peter 


then  to  the  Tsars,  and  gradually  diminishing  again  to  the  petty 
officials  and  nobles — went  slowly  down  the  Ked  Staircase, 
from  the  banqueting-hall  to  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption, 
over  a  path  made  on  the  pavement  by  crimson  cloth,  which 
was  sprinkled  by  priests  with  holy  water,  through  the  dense 
masses  of  the  populace  which  filled  the  whole  square.  At  the 
entrance  of  the  Cathedral,  the  Tsars  were  met  by  the  Patriarch 
who  wished  them  long  life  and  held  out  the  cross  for  them  to 


80  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

kiss.  After  kissing  the  great  pictures  on  the  altar-screen,  espe- 
cially the  Virgin  painted  by  St.  Luke,  the  Tsars  took  their 
places  on  the  platform.  Standing  here  amid  the  throng  of 
their  subjects  in  this  old  cathedral,  the  gilded  walls  and  pillars  of 
which,  lighted  up  by  flickering  candles,  displayed  the  rude  pic- 
tures of  saints  and  martyrs  ;  under  the  great  central  dome, 
from  which  looks  down  the  gigantic  image  of  our  Saviour,  with 
hands  upraised  in  the  act  of  blessing,  the  Tsars,  after  reciting 
the  story  of  their  accession  to  the  throne,  demanded  of  the 
Patriarch  the  rite  of  consecration  and  coronation.  The  Patri- 
arch in  reply,  asked  to  what  faith  they  belonged.  They  an- 
swered :  '  To  the  holy  orthodox  Russian  faith,'  and  set  forth  in 
a  long  speech  the  good  which  they  expected  to  do  to  their 
people.  Then,  after  hymns  and  prayers,  and  swinging  of  cen- 
sers, the  Patriarch  placed  on  their  heads  the  crown  of  Mono- 
machus,  threw  over  their  shoulders  the  coronation  vestments, 
placed  on  their  breasts  the  pectoral  cross,  gave  the  sceptres  and 
globes  into  their  hands,  and  then,  when  all  had  again  taken  their 
seats,  ascended  the  pulpit  and  preached  a  sermon  upon  the 
mutual  duties  of  Tsar  and  people.  Then  followed  the  mass, 
during  which  the  Tsars,  in  sign  of  their  being  priests  as  well  as 
kings,  went  wTithin  the  chancel  behind  the  altar-screen,  and  ad- 
ministered to  themselves  the  Eucharist  with  their  own  hands. 
When  the  service  was  over,  the  Tsars  again  kissed  the  true  cross, 
the  relics  and  the  holy  pictures,  and  with  the  nobles  went  in 
procession  to  the  Cathedral  of  the  Archangel  Michael,  where  they 
paid  reverence  to  the  tombs  of  their  ancestors,  the  Tsars  who  are 
buried  there,  and  especially  to  that  of  the  Tsarevitch  Dimitri, 
who  had  already  been  canonised,  and  of  whose  death  recent 
events  must  have  often  made  them  think.  Thence  they  went  to 
the  Cathedral  of  the  Annunciation,  then  to  the  banqueting-hall 
of  the  palace,  where  they  received  congratulations.  Two  days 
later  occurred  the  great  official  banquet  of  the  coronation.1 

1  Solovief,  vol.  xiv. ;  Ustrialof,  I.  iii. ;  Pogodin  ;  Aristof  ;  Medvedief  s 
Memoirs;  Sawa  Romanof,  History  of  the  Faith  and  the  Petitions  of  the 
Streltsi  (Russian),  reprinted  in  Tikhowravof  s  Collection,  Moscow,  1863 ; 
Avvakum,  Autobiography  (Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  18G1  :  A.  Stchapof,  TJte 
Countiy  oral  Dissent  (Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  18G2:  A.  Stchapof,  Russian 
Dissent  (Russian)  Kazan,  1859  ;  Complete  Collection  of  Russian  Laws;  Tu- 
mansky's  Collection. 


IX. 

THE    RIOTOUS     DISPUTATION    OF    THE    DISSENTERS,    AND    ITS 

ENDING.     1682. 

A  week  was  passed  in  waiting,  though  it  was  made  useful 
by  meetings  for  prayer  and  public  preaching  in  the  remoter 
quarters  of  Moscow.  On  July  13,  the  Dissenters  and  the  dele- 
gates of  the  Streltsi  resolved  again  to  demand  the  solemn  dis- 
pute which  had  been  promised  them  by  Havansky,  and  for  that 
purpose  went  to  the  Kremlin.  Havansky,  who  had  heard  that 
the  Streltsi  were  not  entirely  agreed  upon  the  matter,  asked,  in 
the  name  of  the  Tsar,  if  all  the  regiments  were  united  in  their 
desire  to  restore  the  old  belief.  The  delegates  replied  that  all 
the  regiments  and  the  people  of  the  suburbs  would  joyfully 
stand  up  for  the  old  orthodox  Christian  faith.  Havansky  re- 
peated the  question  twice,  and  again  the  delegates  replied :  '  We 
are  ready  not  only  to  rise,  but  even  to  die  for  the  faith  of  Christ.' 
When  Havansky  had  reported  this  answer  to  the  Princess 
Sophia,  he  went  with  the  delegates  to  the  Patriarch,  and  after 
a  lively  exchange  of  words  and  arguments  the  Patriarch  agreed 
to  a  solemn  disputation  on  "Wednesday,  July  15,  the  next  day 
but  one.  This  having  been  decided  upon,  Havansky  and  the 
delegates  advanced  to  the  Patriarch  and  received  his  blessing ; 
but  Paul,  one  of  the  leading  Dissenters,  declined  it  unless  the 
Patriarch  should  bless  him  according  to  the  old  rite.  This  was 
refused,  and  Paul  went  away  without  the  benediction.  Ha- 
vansky kissed  him  on  the  forehead,  exclaiming :  '  I  did  not  really 
know  you,  my  dear  fellow,  until  now.' 

Meanwhile  the  Dissenters  lost  no  time.     Their  leaders  went 

everywhere  throughout  the  town,  preaching  in  the  streets,  and 

calling  upon  the  inhabitants  to  rise  for  the  old  orthodox  faith. 

On  Wednesday,  July  15,  Xikita,  after  performing  service  with 

Vol.  I. -6 


82  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

the  Titof  regiment,  went  with  his  adherents  to  the  Kremlin, 
accompanied,  as  before,  by  delegates  of  the  Streltsi,  and  a  crowd 
of  people.  They  drew  near  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Michael  the 
A  rchangel,  close  to  the  Red  Staircase,  set  up  their  reading-desks, 
placed  imon  them  old  images  and  books,  and  lighted  their  can- 
dle-. Xikita  stood  upon  a  bench,  and  began  in  a  loud  voice  to 
preach  to  the  people. 

The  Patriarch  was  at  this  time  celebrating  the  liturgy  and 
praying  for  the  appeasement  of  the  riot.  As  soon  as  he  learned 
that  the  crowd  had  arrived,  he  sent  priests  out  to  exhort  them, 
and  distributed  among  them  printed  copies  of  the  recantation 
which  Xikita  had  signed  in  the  time  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  and  by 
which  he  had  promised  in  future  to  abstain  from  the  errors  of 
Dissent.  The  Streltsi  tore  up  the  copies  of  the  recantation, 
seized  the  priest  and  handed  him  over  to  the  Dissenters,  whom 
they  had  taken  under  their  protection.  The  Dissenters  went 
on  reading  the  pamphlets  written  by  the  Solovetsky  monks 
about  the  true  method  of  signing  the  cross,  while  all  around 
listened  with  silence  and  respect^  and  many  wept. 

As  soon  as  the  service  in  the  Cathedral  was  ended,  the 
crowd  demanded  that  the  Patriarch  should  come  out  into  the 
Place.  Havansky  insisted  at  the  palace  that  the  Patriarch 
should  be  ordered  to  go  out  to  quiet  the  people,  but  that  neither 
the  Princess  Sophia  nor  the  Tsaritsas  should  be  present  at  the 
assembly,  as  the  crowd  was  too  great,  and  they  might  be  in 

•  lunger.  Sophia  decided  that  the  conference  should  take  place 
in  the  banqueting-hall,  and,  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Havansky. 
insisted  upon  being  present,  together  with  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia 
and  her  aunt  Tatiana. 

The  Patriarch  was  then  advised,  as  a  matter  of  precaution, 
to  come  to  the  palace  with  all  the  archbishops  by  the  back  en- 
trance ;  but  to  send  the  old  parchment  manuscripts  and  books 
from  the  Patriarchal  Sacristy  by  the  priests  up  the  Ped  Stair- 
case. The  crowd  expressed  great  satisfaction  as  they  saw  the 
books  being  carried  past  them  to  the  palace.     '  Xow,'  they  said, 

•  the  truth  will  evidently  be  made  clear.'  The  leaders  of  the 
Dissenters  for  a  long  time  refused  to  enter  the  banqueting-hall. 
saying  that  they  would  not  be  safe,  and  that  they  would  be  in 
danger  of  being  arrested.     Havansky  gave  them  his  solemn  as- 


1682.]  DISPUTATION   OF  THE  DISSENTERS.  83 

surance  that  no  harm  should  attend  them.  Still  there  was  hesi- 
tation until  2sikita  told  Prince  Havansky  that  he  believed  him, 
and  then  they  agreed  to  go.  Once  again  Havansky  tried  to 
frighten  Sophia,  and  induce  her  not  to  be  present  in  the  ban- 
que ting-hall.  The  Patriarch  steadfastly  refused  to  go  there 
■without  her,  and  Sophia  said  decisively  that  she  would  not 
abandon  the  Patriarch.  Havansky  then  sent  word  to  the  Dis- 
senters to  enter. 

The  Dissenters  started  with  their  crosses,  their  gospels,  their 
images,  desks  and  candles,  chanting  hymns  as  they  went. 

In  an  anteroom  they  met  the  priests  who  were  carrying  the 
ancient  books  and  parchments  into  the  banqueting-hall ;  there 
was  much  scuffling  and  pushing,  and  some  blows  were  ex- 
changed. Havansky,  hearing  the  disturbance,  angrily  turned 
out  the  priests,  who  had  come  there  by  orders  of  the  Patriarch, 
and  admitted  only  the  Dissenters  and  as  many  of  the  crowd  as 
could  force  their  way  into  the  hall  with  them. 

The  Dissenters  had  come  to  declaim  against  what  was  new, 
and  to  insist  upon  the  re-establishment  of  old  and  time-hon- 
oured rites  and  practices.  Yet,  strangely  enough,  they  ac- 
cepted without  comment  a  novelty  far  greater  than  that  which 
they  had  come  to  inveigh  against,  for,  on  the  throne  not  the 
Tsar,  but  the  Princess  Sophia  sat,  together  with  her  aunt  Tati- 
ana  ;  and  in  arm-chairs  below  were  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  and  the 
Princess  Mary.  The  young  Tsars  were  not  present,  but  in  all 
probability  looked  on  the  scene  from  one  of  the  small  windows 
below  the  ceiling  which  were  made  for  such  purposes. 

Bowing  to  the  Princess,  the  Dissenters  stationed  their  read- 
ing-desks before  the  throne,  arranged  their  images  and  books, 
and  lighted  their  candles,  exactly  as  they  had  done  in  the  open 
air.  Sophia  turned  to  them,  with  half-concealed  anger,  and 
asked  : 

'  Why  have  you  come  so  boldly  into  the  Tsar's,  palace,  as  if 
to  infidels  and  heathen,  and  what  do  you  want  of  us  ?  How 
dare  you  go  about  the  town  and  the  Kremlin  preaching  your 
Dissenting  heresy,  and  exciting  the  common  people  ? ' 

'  We  have  come  to  the  Tsars,  our  Lords.'  said  jSTikita,  "  to 
petition  about  the  amendment  of  the  orthodox  faith,  that  divine 
service  may  be  performed  according  to  the  old  rites,  as  was  or- 


84  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

dered  in  the  time  of  the  Tsar  Michael  Feodorovitch,  and  of  the 
Patriarch  Philaret.' 

The  Patriarch  then  turned  to  them,  and  repeated  what  he 
had  already  said  to  them  in  his  own  house  : 

'  It  is  not  for  you  common  people  to  manage  Church  mat- 
ters. You  ought  to  be  advised  by  the  Holy  Church,  and  by  the 
archbishops,  whose  duty  it  is  to  judge  of  these  things.  Our 
faith  is  that  of  the  old  orthodoxy  of  the  Greek  rite ;  we  have 
only  corrected  the  service-books  grammatically  from  Greek 
manuscripts,  parchments  and  books.' 

'  We  have  not  come  to  talk  about  grammar,'  answered  Xikita, 
1  but  about  the  dogmas  of  the  Church ; '  and  he  boldly  began 
to  enumerate  his  arguments,  beginning  with  the  question,  '  why 
the  archbishop  should  carry  his  cross  in  his  left  hand,  and  his 
candle  in  his  right  hand.' 

Athanasius,  the  archbishop  of  Holmogory,  began  to  explain, 
when  Xikita  advanced,  as  if  to  seize  him  by  the  collar,  saying : 

'  Why  dost  thou,  who  art  the  foot,  place  thyself  above  the 
head  ?     I  am  not  talking  to  thee,  but  to  the  Patriarch.' 

'  Do  you  see  what  Xikita  is  doing  ? '  cried  out  Sophia,  turn- 
ing to  those  about  her.  '  Pie  wants  to  fight,  even  before  us. 
If  we  were  not  here,  he  would  certainly  have  killed  the  Patri- 
arch long  ago.' 

'  Xo,  lady,  I  did  not  beat  him  ;  I  only  waved  him  off,  so 
that  he  should  not  speak  before  the  Patriarch.' 

'  How  do  you,  Xikita,  dare  to  talk  to  the  Patriarch  ? '  Sophia 
continued.  '  Is  it  not  enough  for  you  to  be  in  the  presence  of 
our  "  piercing  eyes  "  ?  You  made  a  recantation  to  our  father 
of  blessed  memory,  and  to  the  most  holy  Patriarch,  with  a  great 
curse  upon  yourself,  never  to  petition  against  the  faith,  and  now 
again  you  have  set  about  the  same  business.' 

'  I  do  not  deny,'  replied  Xikita,  '  that  I  did  sign  a  recanta- 
tion through  the  power  of  the  sword  ;  but  to  the  petition,  which 
I  gave  to  the  assembly,  not  one  of  the  archbishops  dared  an- 
swer. Simeon  Polotsky  aimed  his  book — "  The  Staff  "  at  me  : 
but  in  that  book  he  did  not  touch  a  fifth  of  what  I  said.  If 
you  will  allow  me  to  read  my  answer  against  that  "  Staff,"  I 
will  refute  it.' 

'  Hold  your  tongue,'  said  the  Princess,  angrily.     <  You  have 


1682.]  THE   RIOTOUS   DISSENTERS.  85 

no  business  to  talk  with  us  or  even  to  be  in  our  presence ; '  and 
she  ordered  the  petition  to  be  read. 

When  they  came  to  the  place  where  it  was  stated  that  the 
heretical  monk,  Arsenius,  had,  together  with  Nikon,  wrongly 
influenced  the  mind  of  the  Tsar  Alexis  Michaflovitch,  and  that 
since  that  time  true  piety  had  ceased  in  Russia,  Sophia  could  no 
longer  contain  herself;  angrily  interrupting  the  reading,  and 
starting  from  her  throne,  she  said  : 

'  We  will  no  longer  endure  such  talk.  If  Arsenius  and  the 
Patriarch  Nikon  were  heretics,  then  our  father  and  brother 
were  also  heretics,  and  it  is  plain,  then,  that  the  Tsars  are  not 
Tsars,  that  the  Patriarch  is  not  the  Patriarch,  and  that  the  arch- 
bishops are  not  archbishops.  We  will  no  longer  hear  such  out- 
rageous things.     Sooner  than  that,  we  will  leave  the  Empire.' 

With  these  words  she  left  her  place  and  moved  away  from 
the  throne.  The  boyars  and  the  delegates  of  the  Streltsi  im- 
mediately begged  her  to  return  to  her  place,  and  swore  that 
they  were  ready  to  lay  down  their  lives  for  the  Imperial  house ; 
but  there  were  some  voices  that  called  out : — 

'  It  has  long  been  time,  lady,  for  you  to  go  to  a  monastery. 
You  have  troubled  the  Empire  quite  enough.  Tsars  will  be 
good  enough  for  us.  Without  you  the  place  will  not  be 
empty.' 

A  cry  such  as  this  could  scarcely  weaken  the  impression  made 
upon  the  Streltsi  delegates  by  the  words  of  Sophia. 

'  It  is  all  because  the  people  are  afraid  of  you,'  said  the  Prin- 
cess to  them.  '  It  was  from  hope  in  you  that  these  riotous  Dis- 
senters have  come  hither  so  boldly.  What  are  you  thinking 
about  ?  Is  it  right  for  such  brutes  to  come  to  us  with  rioting, 
and  cry  at  us,  and  give  us  discomfort  ?  Are  you,  who  were  true 
servants  of  our  grandfather,  our  father,  and  our  brother,  really 
joined  to  the  Dissenters  ?  You  call  yourselves  our  true  ser- 
vants. Why,  then,  do  you  allow  such  misconduct  ?  If  we  are 
going  to  be  in  such  slavery  that  we  and  the  Tsars  can  no  longer 
live  here,  we  will  go  to  another  town,  and  we  will  tell  the  peo- 
ple what  we  have  suffered.'' 

Nothing  could  affect  the  Streltsi  more  than  the  threat  that 
the  Tsars  would  leave  Moscow.  While  they  knew  well  enough 
that  the  riots  and  murders  of  May  had  excited  the  feelings  of 


86  PETEB   THE   GREAT. 

the  boyirs  and  upper  classes,  they  also  knew  that  the  common 
people  obeyed  them  only  because  they  feared  them  ;  and  if  the 
Tsars  should  leave  Moscow  and  collect  an  army  in  the  country, 
there  Mould  be  no  hope  for  them.  The  delegates  therefore  an- 
swered : — 

'  AVe  are  ready  to  serve  our  lords  with  truth  and  fidelity, 
and  to  lay  down  our  lives  for  you  and  the  orthodox  faith,  and 
to  act  according  to  your  commands.' 

Sophia  then  returned  to  her  place  and  the  reading  of  the 
petition  continued.  She  could  not  always  restrain  herself  from 
interrupting  and  arguing  with  the  Dissenting  monks.  After 
the  petition  had  been  finished  the  Patriarch  took  in  one  hand 
the  gospel  written  by  the  Metropolitan  Alexis,  and  in  the  other 
the  decretal  of  the  Patriarch  Jeremiah,  with  the  creed,  just  as 
it  was  written  in  the  newly  corrected  books.  '  Here  are  the 
old  books,'  said  the  Patriarch.  '  We  follow  them  fully.'  But 
the  strongest  impression  of  all  was  made  by  one  priest  who  ad- 
vanced with  a  book  printed  in  the  time  of  the  Patriarch  Phila- 
ret,  and  said : — '  Here  is  one  of  your  dear  books  of  Philaret, 
which  allows  meat  to  be  eaten  on  Holy  Thursday  and  Holy 
Saturday.'  Kikita,  who  had  kept  silence  after  the  outburst  of 
Sophia,  could  only  mutter :  '  It  is  printed  by  such  rascals  as 
you.' 

It  was,  however,  impossible — much  as  the  Patriarch  and  the 
archbishops  might  argue — to  overcome  the  Dissenters,  who 
steadfastly  reiterated  their  statements,  without  listening  to  ar- 
guments of  any  kind.  Havansky  walked  up  and  down  the  hall, 
but  made  no  attempt  to  preserve  order.  Meanwhile,  it  was 
getting  late,  and  it  was  time  for  vespers,  which  neither  party 
was  willing  to  omit.  Besides  that,  all  were  faint  and  weary, 
having  eaten  nothing  since  morning,  and  Sophia  was  glad  of  a 
pretext  for  closing  this  unruly  assembly.  She  declared  that,  on 
account  of  the  approach  of  vesper  time,  it  was  impossible  to 
carry  on  the  conference  any  longer,  and  that  an  Imperial  decree 
about  the  matter  would  be  issued  afterward.  The  Princess  re- 
tired to  an  inner  room  of  the  palace,  together  with  the  Patriarch 
and  the  archbishops. 

The  Dissenters  ran  in  a  crowd  down  the  Red  Staircase,  and, 
lifting  up  their  hands,  with  two  fingers,  cried:     'This  is  the 


1682.]  THE   RIOTOUS   DISSENTERS.  87 

way  we  should  cross  ourselves ;  this  is  the  way.'  On  all  sides 
were  heard  cries  from  the  people  :  '  How  did  the  matter  end  ? ' 
'  Why,  our  side  beat  them,'  was  shouted  in  return.  '  We  ar- 
gued down  all  the  archbishops  and  overcame  them.  This  is 
the  way  to  pray ;  this  is  the  way  to  cross  yourselves.'  They 
then  hastened  to  the  Lobnoe  Place,  followed  by  the  crowd. 
There  they  began  again  to  explain  the  Solovetsky  pamphlets  ; 
and  then,  after  chanting  a  hymn,  and  raising  their  hands  again 
with  a  two-fingered  cross,  they  set  out  for  the  Yaiiza  suburb, 
many  of  them  so  tired  that  they  fell  swooning  on  the  road.  At 
the  quarters  of  the  Titof  regiment,  they  were  met  by  ringing  of 
bells,  and  after  performing  a  triumphal  service  in  the  Church 
of  the  Saviour  they  went  home. 

Sophia  saw  there  was  no  use  of  trying  to  convince  the  Dis- 
senters by  argument,  and  took  measures  of  another  kind.  She 
called  the  delegates  of  the  Streltsi  together,  and  begged  them 
not  to  desert  the  Tsars  for  these  old  monks,  recalled  their  faith- 
ful services  to  the  dynasty,  and  succeeded  in  persuading  them — 
some  by  promises,  others  by  money,  and  others  again  by  re- 
wards and  favours.  More  than  this,  the  Streltsi  were  invited 
to  the  palace,  in  detachments  of  a  hundred  at  a  time,  and  were 
feasted  with  beer,  mead,  and  wine.  The  Streltsi  were  not  all 
Dissenters,  and  but  few  of  them  had  the  slightest  conception 
of  the  matter  in  question.  As  before,  on  May  15,  they  had 
murdered  Matveief  and  the  rest  in  support  of  the  dynasty,  so 
now  they  had  believed  the  Holy  Church  to  be  in  danger.  It 
was  therefore  comparatively  easy  for  Sophia  to  persuade  them. 
When  the  Dissenters  came  to  complain  to  them  of  their  deser- 
tion, they  began  to  beat  and  revile  them,  and  call  them  dis- 
turbers of  the  people.  Some  of  the  leading  Dissenters  were 
seized  and  delivered  up  to  the  authorities.  There  were  no 
great  formalities  of  trial,  and  sentence  was  soon  passed.  Xikita 
was  beheaded  a  week  afterward,  on  July  21,  on  the  Red  Place ; 
while  his  companions,  whose  punishment  was  mitigated  through 
the  interference  of  Havansky,  were  imprisoned  in  various  mon- 
asteries. The  adherents  of  the  Dissenters,  in  Moscow,  were 
obliged  to  conceal  their  feelings. 

The  reign  of  Sophia  was  a  grievous  time  for  the  Dissenters. 
They  were  prosecuted  and  suppressed,  and  often  driven  into 


88 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


open  conflict  with  the  troops  sent  against  them.  The  State, 
with  its  material  force,  with  its  sword,  had  taken  the  place  of 
the  Church,  with  its  spiritual  force,  in  punishing  heresy.  After 
the  siege  of  the  Solovetsky  Monastery,  many  Dissenters  had 
given  up  praying  for  the  Tsar ;  now,  as  an  effect  of  the  persecu- 
cutions  of  Sophia,  they  began  to  consider  the  Tsar  as  Antichrist, 
a  feeling  which  increased  during  the  rule  of  Peter. 

The  Dissenters  were  mistaken  in  putting  themselves  for- 
ward so  soon  as  representatives  of  the  popular  feelings  and  as- 
pirations ;  the  nation  was  disunited  and  divided,  and  no  hearty 
support  was  accorded  to  them.  But  this  was  one  of  the  last  of 
the  many  struggles  of  the  Russian  people  against  autocracy  and 
{centralisation,  and  the  boldness  and  courage  of  Sophia,  while  ward- 
ling  off  a  present  danger,  made  at  the  same  time  a  clearer  field  for 
the  development  of  the  Imperial  power  by  her  brother  Peter.1 

1  See  note  at  the  end  of  the  preceding  chapter. 


The  Cross  of  Peter. 


X. 

THE  EXECUTION  OF  HAVANSKY.— THE  SUBMISSION  OF  THE 

STREET  SI. 

Although  the  Dissenters  had  been  put  down,  and  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  Church  had  been  turned  rather  than  settled,  there 
still  remained  Havansky  to  deal  with.  He  had  acquired  such 
influence  and  authority — he  had  made  himself  so  prominent  of 
late,  especially  in  the  dispute  of  the  Dissenters — he  was  a  man 
of  such  arrogant  and  braggart  disposition,  that  no  dependence 
could  be  placed  upon  him.  He  might  at  any  time  use  his  in- 
fluence with  the  Streltsi  to  become  dangerous  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  more  especially  to  Ivan  Miloslavsky,  the  leading  fig- 
ure of  the  new  administration,  of  whom  he  was  a  personal  enemy. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  infer  that  Havansky  had  actually  any 
thought  of  overturning  the  Government,  or,  relying  on  his  royal 
descent  from  King  Gedimin  of  Lithuania,  of  placing  the  crown 
on  his  own  head.  But  there  were  persistent  rumours  that  he 
was  desirous  of  marrying  his  eldest  son  to  one  of  the  daughter^ 
of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  and  the  slightest  words  which  he  spoke 
were  repeated  at  court  with  exaggerations  and  variations. 

Meanwhile  the  town  was  far  from  quiet ;  the  Streltsi  con- 
tinued still  to  have  their  own  way,  to  be  riotous  and  disobe- 
dient, and  there  were  constant  rumours  of  coming  disturbances 
— at  one  time  that  the  boyars  were  collecting  an  army  to  anni- 
hilate the  Streltsi,  and  at  another  that  the  Streltsi  were  about 
to  rise  to  murder  the  boyars.  On  July  13  a  crowd  of  Streltsi 
came  with  a  demand  that  the  boyars  should  be  delivered  up  to 
them,  for  threatening  to  make  away  with  them  and  torture 
them.  Enquiries  were  made  into  the  foundation  of  such  ru- 
mours, and  it  was  found  that  the  converted  Tartar  prince, 
Matthew,  had  said  something  of  this  kind.     On  being  subjected 


/ 


90  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

to  torture,  Matthew  confessed  that,  dissatisfied  with  the  small- 
ness  of  his  pension  and  the  little  honour  he  received,  he  had 
spread  this  report,  hoping  to  gain  something  by  the  disturbance. 
The  Tartar  prince  was  drawn  and  quartered.  Bizaef,  a  man 
from  Yaroshiv,  who  had  spread  false  reports  of  a  similar  na- 
ture against  Veslmiakof,  a  nobleman  of  Moscow,  and  his  son, 
a  former  colonel,  was  arrested  and  executed.  The  old  Vesh- 
niakof  died  from  the  torture,  for  to  get  at  the  truth  in  such 
cases  torture  was  impartially  applied  to  all  parties  alike.  An 
old  colonel,  Yanof,  a  very  honourable  and  worthy  man,  was 
taken  by  the  Streltsi,  who  were  displeased  with  him  for  his 
alleged  severity  in  times  gone  by,  subjected  to  severe  torture, 
and  afterward  put  to  death  on  the  Red  Place,  in  front  of  the 
recently  erected  monument. 

The  new  commander-in-chief,  Havansky,  and  his  son,  looked 
through  their  fingers  at  all  these  murders  and  cruelties,  and 
took  no  steps  to  prevent  them  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  always 
took  the  side  of  the  Streltsi,  under  the  convenient  pretext 
that  it  would  be  dangerous  to  excite  them.  On  August  26, 
Havansky  brought  to  the  palace  a  petition  of  the  Streltsi  that, 
for  the  benefit  of  those  men  who  were  brought  from  the  dis- 
tricts belonging  to  the  court,  there  should  be  collected  equip- 
ment money  to  the  amount  of  25  rubles  (about  $50)  a  man, 
making  altogether  an  amount  of  more  than  100,000  rubles 
(about  $200,000)  which  they  demanded.  The  boyars,  in  coun- 
cil, resisted  this  unlawful  demand.  Havansky  indignantly  left 
the  council,  and  it  was  reported  to  the  Government  that  on  going 
back  to  the  Streltsi  he  had  said : 

1  Children,  the  boyars  are  threatening  even  me  on  your  ac- 
count because  I  wished  well  to  you.  I  can  do  nothing  more  for 
you ;  you  will  take  such  measures  now  as  you  think  best.' 

Whether  Havansky  said  this  or  not,  it  was  quite  sufficient 
that  he  was  reported  to  have  said  it.  His  refusal  to  carry  out 
orders  and  his  general  conduct  had  become  insupportable. 
Sophia  felt  herself  almost  in  slavery  to  him  and  to  the  Streltsi ; 
while  Ivan  Miloslavsky,  who  had  even  been  demanded  for  exe- 
cution by  the  Streltsi  at  Havansky's  suggestion,  kept  increasing 
the  anger  and  indignation  of  Sophia  by  all  the  means  in  his 
power.     Miloslavsky  had  been  in  such  fear  of  late  that  he  had 


1682.]  HAVANSKY.  91 

been  little  in  Moscow,  and,  to  use  the  words  of  a  contemporary, 
'  was  creeping  like  an  underground  mole,'  and  was  concealing 
himself  in  his  villas  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  capital.  A 
plan  was  therefore  formed  for  the  ruin  of  Havansky.  This 
plan  was  nothing  else,  indeed,  than  the  execution  of  the  threat 
which  Sophia  had  made  at  the  time  of  the  Dissenter  riot — 
namely,  that  she  would  leave  Moscow,  and  inform  the  people 
of  Russia  of  such  great  disturbance  and  insubordination.  It 
was,  however,  necessary  to  blind  the  eyes  of  Havansky,  in  order 
that  he  might  not  see  the  danger  and  consequently  take  meas- 
ures of  precaution.  His  own  self-confidence  rendered  this  all 
the  easier. 

On  July  29  it  was  the  custom  to  have  a  religious  procession, 
in  which  the  Tsar  always  took  part,  from  the  Cathedral  of  the 
Assumption  to  the  Donskoy  Monastery,  a  few  miles  out  of 
Moscow,  in  commemoration  of  the  preservation  of  the  capital 
from  the  attack  of  the  Crim  Tartars,  in  the  reign  of  Theodore 
Ivanovitch.  A  rumour  was  set  afloat  that  the  Streltsi  intended 
to  profit  by  this  occasion  to  seize  the  persons  of  the  Tsars  and 
kill  them.  Consequently,  neither  the  Tsars  nor  any  other  mem- 
ber of  their  family  took  part  in  the  procession.  The  next  day — • 
the  30th — Sophia,  the  Tsars,  and  the  Imperial  family  went  to 
the  villa  of  Kolomenskoe,  which  had  been  the  favourite  resi- 
dence of  the  Tsar  Alexis. 

All  the  members  of  the  Imperial  family  who  were  not  in  the 
secret  were  naturally  much  disturbed  by  this  sudden  move,  and 
the  whole  population  of  the  capital  was  agitated  by  the  depart- 
ure of  the  court,  and  feared  lest  some  new  calamity  was  about 
to  fall  on  them.  Other  people  also  began  to  leave  Moscow ;  the 
Dutch  merchants  made  preparations  for  going  to  Archangel, 
with  such  of  their  goods  as  they  could  transport ;  the  Dutch 
Resident  asked  Prince  Havansky  for  a  guard  to  protect  his 
house.  The  Streltsi,  also,  were  much  alarmed.  They  feared 
that  the  absence  of  the  court  from  Moscow  foreboded  no  good. 
A  few  days  after,  on  August  2,  a  deputation  of  the  Streltsi  ar- 
rived at  Kolomenskoe,  to  express  their  regret  that  the  Tsars  had 
left  Moscow.  '  It  has  been  stated  to  our  Lords,'  they  represented, 
'  that  we,  the  Palace  Guard,  have  become  riotous,  and  have  evil 
designs  on  the  boyars  and  the  people  near  the  sovereigns,  and 


92  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

that  secret  correspondence  is  going  on  between  the  regiments  ; 
that  we  are  wanting  to  go  to  the  Kremlin  with  arms,  as  we  did 
before,  and  this  is  the  reason,  we  hear,  that  the  Tsars  have 
deigned  to  leave  Moscow.  But  there  is  no  design  or  plot  at  all 
in  any  of  the  regiments,  nor  will  there  be ;  and  we  beg  our 
Lords  not  to  believe  such  lying  words,  and  to  deign  to  go  back 
to  Moscow.' 

The  answer  was  simply:  '  Your  Lords  know  nothing  about 
any  plots  of  yours.  They  have  gone  from  Moscow  according  to 
their  Imperial  will  and  pleasure.  Even  before  this,  there  were 
frequent  excursions  by  the  Imperial  family  to  the  village  of 
Kolomenskoe.'     The  deputies  were  sent  away  with  this  reply. 

The  Streltsi  quieted  down,  because  they  saw  that  the  court 
remained  at  Kolomenskoe,  for  there  was  no  intention  of  going 
elsewhere  until  a  proper  occasion  arose,  in  order  not  to  excite 
distrust.  Havansky  came  to  court,  in  part  to  see  what  was 
going  on,  and  in  part  to  try  to  frighten  Sophia  by  showing 
that  she  needed  the  support  of  the  Streltsi,  and,  consequently, 
his  assistance.  He  stated  before  the  boyars  that  various  noble- 
men of  Xovgorod  had  been  to  him  and  said  that  their  comrades 
intended  to  come  to  Moscow,  ostensibly  to  petition  about  their 
pay,  and  that  they  would  kill  the  inhabitants  without  distinc- 
tion. Sophia  replied:  'Information  of  that  kind  should  be 
stated  publicly  in  Moscow,  in  the  council-chamber,  and  to  the 
people  of  all  ranks,  and  letters  with  the  great  seal  will  be  sent 
to  Xovgorod  for  more  exact  information.'  This  disturbed 
Havansky,  who  used  all  efforts  to  prevent  the  public  announce- 
ment of  the  fact  and  to  keep  back  the  letters  from  Xovgorod. 

Taking  as  an  excuse  the  name's-day  of  the  Tsar  Ivan — Sep- 
tember 2S — Sophia  ordered  Havansky  to  send  to  Kolomenskoe 
the  Stremenoy,  or  '  Stirrup,'  regiment — a  regiment  particularly 
devoted  to  the  Tsars.  Havansky  feared  letting  this  regiment 
out  of  his  hands.  Knowing  that  Sophia  had  great  influence 
with  it,  and  dreading  lest  that  influence  should  be  extended 
over  the  other  regiments,  he  refused  to  obey  the  order,  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  previously  ordered  the  regiment — although 
without  the  Tsars'  permission — to  go  to  Kief.  It  was  not  until 
after  the  order  had  been  repeated  several  times  that  Havansky 
yielded. 


1682.]  HAVANSKY.  93 

The  Russian  year  at  that  time  began  on  September  1  (Old 
Style,  that  is,  on  September  11  by  the  Gregorian  calendar),  for 
it  was  an  article  of  belief  in  the  Church  that  the  world  was 
created  at  the  beginning  of  the  autumn,  and  it  had  been  the 
custom  in  Moscow  to  celebrate  the  first  day  of  the  year  with 
great  solemnity.  The  court,  nevertheless,  did  not  return  for 
this  festival,  although  orders  were  given  to  Havansky  to  take 
part  in  the  service  at  the  cathedral.  lie  did  not  go ;  and,  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  Moscow,  there  was  only  one  man  of  the 
higher  nobility  present,  and  the  Patriarch  was  very  angry  that 
the  ceremony  was  attended  with  so  little  of  the  usual  pomp. 
There  were  even  few  of  the  common  people  there,  for  everyone 
was  afraid.  Rumours  had  been  assiduously  circulated  that  on 
this  or  some  other  festival  there  would  be  another  Streltsi  riot ; 
and  the  Streltsi  themselves  were  no  less  frightened,  for  rumours 
were  running  amongst  them  that  on  this  or  some  other  festival 
an  attack  would  be  made  on  them  by  the  people  and  the  boyars, 
after  they  had  gone  on  guard,  and  that  their  wives  and  children 
would  be  killed.  The  carriage  of  Havansky  was  constantly  at- 
tended by  a  guard  of  fifty  men,  and  he  had  as  constantly  a  large 
company  of  men  in  his  courtyard — a  thing  which  previously 
had  been  unknown  with  the  Streltsi  commanders.1 

On  the  next  day,  September  12,  the  court,  under  the  pretext  of 
pilgrimage  to  various  monasteries,  slowly  made  a  circuit  of  Mos- 
cow, gradually  getting  further  and  further  away  from  it;  going- 
first  to  the  Sparrow  Hills  ;  then  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Savva, 
near  Zvenigorod,  for  the  festival  of  St.  Savva  on  September  16  ; 
and  then  through  Pavlovsky  and  Khliebovo  to  Vozdvizhenskoe, 
for  the  festival  of  that  village — the  Elevation  of  the  Cross — on 

1  To  us,  who  live  under  regular  and  settled  governments,  such  fears  seem 
exaggerated  and  ridiculous.  They  are  not  impossible  or  unusual  in  a  differ- 
ent state  of  society.  In  Constantinople,  from  187G  to  1878,  scarcely  a  week 
passed  without  rumours  of  this  kind.  Now  it  was  a  general  massacre  of 
Christians  by  the  Mohammedans  fixed  for  the  Bairam,  and  then  postponed  to 
another  feast,  when  all  preparations  were  made  for  resistance,  and  the  com- 
munications of  the  foreign  embassies  in  Pera  with  their  ships  of  war  in  har- 
bour were  carefully  studied  ;  now,  it  was  a  rising  of  the  Greeks  or  the  Arme- 
nians for  Christinas,  or  New  Year's  Day,  or  Easter,  which  excited  no  less  alarm 
among  the  Mussulmans  of  Stambul.  The  fear,  as  it  proved,  was  vain,  but 
the  alarm  was  real.  This  is  not  the  only  case  when  the  Russia  of  two  hun- 
dred years  ago  recalls  the  Turkey  of  to-day. 


94  PETEE   THE   GEEAT. 

September  24  (September  14,  Old  Style).  In  this  village 
Sophia  considered  herself  safe,  for  it  was  only  about  two  hours' 

journey  Er the  strongly-fortified  monastery  of  Troitsa.    Here 

Sophia  commanded  the  court  to  remain  for  several  days,  to  cel- 
ebrate  her  own  name's-day  on  the  27th.  Orders  were  therefore 
senl  1"  Moscow  for  all  the  nobility  and  high  officials  to  come  to 
Vozdvizhenskoe,  partly  for  matters  of  state,  partly  for  the  cel- 
ebration of  the  name's-day  of  the  Princess,  and  partly  to  re- 
ceive the  son  of  the  Hetman  of  the  Cossacks,  whose  arrival 
Eavansky  bad  announced.  Havansky  and  his  son  were  also  in- 
vited, and  it  is  probable  that  Sophia  resolved  to  make  use  of 
the  excellent  occasion  which  the  arrival  of  the  Iletman's  son 
brought  about.  At  the  same  time,  letters  were  sent — of  course 
without  Haviinsky's  knowledge — to  Vladimir,  Suzdal  and  other 
neighbouring  towns,  calling  upon  the  nobility  and  people  in  ser- 
vice to  come  to  protect  the  Tsars,  who  were  threatened  with 
death  through  the  treachery  of  Havansky. 

On  the  27th — the  festival  of  St.  Sophia — a  large  number  of 
people  of  all  ranks  had  collected  in  Yozdvizhenskoe.  After 
mass  and  a  collation,  at  which  the  Tsars  and  their  sisters  were 
present,  there  was  a  council  of  boyars.  The  Privy  Councillor 
Shaklovity  made  a  report  of  the  crimes  attributed  to  Prince 
Havansky  and  to  his  son,  and  read  a  long  anonymous  letter, 
found,  it  was  said,  at  Kolomenskoe,  in  which  Prince  Havansky, 
his  son,  and  their  adherents  Avere  accused  of  plots  against  the 
lives  of  the  Tsars  and  the  boyars,  and  in  which  it  was  alleged 
that  they  themselves  desired  to  ascend  the  Muscovite  throne. 
In  all  probability  this  letter  was  untrue,  and  may,  indeed,  have 
been  invented,  although  such  anonymous  letters  were  frequent 
in  those  days,  but  it  served  the  purpose,  and  the  assembly,  with- 
out hearing  further  proof,  or  allowing  an  opportunity  for  de- 
fence, condemned  Havansky  and  his  son  Andrew,  as  well  as 
several  of  their  adherents. 

Information  had  been  obtained  that  Prince  Havansky,  who, 
together  with  his  son,  had  left  Moscow  the  day  before,  was  en- 
camped among  the  peasants'  barns  near  the  village  of  Pushkino, 
and  that  young  Havansky  was  in  his  villa  at  Bratovstchina  on 
the  river  Kliazma.  Prince  Lvkof,  with  a  considerable- force, 
was  sent  down  the  Moscow  road,  and  succeeded  in  surprising 


1682.]  HAYANSKY.  95 

and  arresting  both  the  Havanskys  and  bringing  them,  together 
with  the  few  Streltsi  who  were  with  them,  to  Yozdvizhenskoe, 
where  every  arrangement  had  been  made  for  the  execution.  As 
soon  as  the  arrival  of  the  Havanskys  was  known,  orders  were 
given  to  stop  them  in  front  of  the  gates  of  the  house  in  which 
the  Tsars  were  staying ;  while  the  boyars  and  other  officials 
went  out  and  sat  on  benches  and  chairs  brought  for  them.  The 
accusation  was  read  by  Shaklovity.  In  this  many  acts  of  in- 
subordination and  illegal  conduct  were  mentioned,  and  they 
were  accused,  among  other  things,  of  having  incited  the  first 
riot  of  the  Streltsi.  Prince  Havansky  immediately  made  a 
protest,  and  offered,  if  time  were  given  him,  to  show  who  were 
the  real  promoters  of  this  riot.  He  declared  his  innocence  of 
all  the  points  of  accusation,  and  said  that  if  his  son  were  guilty 
he  would  be  the  first  to  curse  him  and  to  deliver  him  over  to 
justice.  Miloslavsky  immediately  reported  this  to  Sophia,  and 
urged  her  to  execute  them  at  once,  and  she  consented,  for  both 
— and  he  especially — feared  a  revolution  would  be  brought  about 
by  Havansky.  A  severe  order  came  from  Sophia  to  listen  to 
nothing  on  the  part  of  Havansky,  and  to  carry  justice  immedi- 
ately into  effect.  jNo  executioner  could  be  found,  but  finally  a 
soldier  of  the  Stremenoy  regiment  beheaded  Ivan  Havansky; 
His  son  kissed  the  breathless  body  of  his  father,  and  then  laid 
his  head  upon  the  block.  Odvntsof,  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
first  Streltsi  rioting,  and  Yudin,  who  had  assisted  in  the  riot  of 
the  Dissenters,  were  also  executed. 

The  same  day  a  rescript  in  the  name  of  the  Government 
was  sent  to  Moscow  to  the  Streltsi,  informing  them  of  the  exe- 
cution of  their  commander  Havansky  and  his  son,  but  at  the 
same  time  stating  that  there  was  no  anger  or  dissatisfaction 
with  the  Streltsi,  and  ordering  them  to  serve  with  the  same 
fidelity  as  previously.  But  another  son  of  Prince  Havansky, 
Prince  Ivan,  had  succeeded  in  escaping  to  Moscow,  and,  arriv- 
ing there  that  very  night,  told  the  Streltsi  that  his  father  had 
been  captured  in  the  village  of  Pushkino  by  the  boyars'  people, 
and  had  been  punished  without  the  orders  of  the  Tsars,  and 
that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  boyars  to  march  to  Moscow  and 
to  burn  all  the  houses  of  the  Streltsi,  and  for  that  reason  it 
would  be  well  for  them  to  fortify  themselves  in  Moscow.     The 


96  PETEE    THE    (JKEAT. 

counsel  was  immediately  followed.  The  Streltsi  seized  their 
arms,  occupied  the  Kremlin,  took  from  the  arsenal  the  cannon, 
lead  and  powder,  placed  a  strong  guard  everywhere,  and  put 
the  city  in  a  state  of  siege,  allowing  no  one  to  enter  or  depart 
from  it.  There  were  cries  that  it  was  necessary  to  attack  the 
boyars,  and  people  went  in  crowds  to  the  Patriarch,  who  en- 
deavoured to  persuade  them  to  remain  calm  and  not  to  resort 
to  force.  They  threatened  to  kill  him  for  what  they  considered 
to  be  siding  with  the  boyars ;  but  it  all  ended  in  threats,  for 
lear  was  the  prevailing  feeling.  The  Butyrki  soldiers,  who 
had  taken  part  in  the  Streltsi  riot,  were  also  frightened.  Some 
of  their  men  had  got  lost  in  the  Marina  wood,  and  they  felt  it 
necessary  to  get  some  cannon  and  protect  themselves  ;  and  fear- 
ing the  advance  of  the  boyars,  of  which  there  were  rumours, 
they  sent  their  wives  and  children  into  the  town  for  safety. 

Meanwhile,  the  movements  of  the  Streltsi  were  immediately 
reported  at  the  court,  and  couriers  were  sent  out  on  all  sides  to 
call  together  in  the  Troitsa  Monastery  all  men  fit  for  service, 
fully  armed.  To  this  monastery  the  court  immediately  repaired, 
and  the  place  was  put  into  a  condition  of  defence,  the  chief 
command  being  given  to  the  most  faithful  follower  of  Sophia, 
Prince  Basil  Golitsyn. 

On  September  29,  Andrew,  the  Archimandrite  of  the  Mir- 
acle Monastery,  came  to  Troitsa  with  a  message  from  the  Pa- 
triarch that  the  Streltsi  petitioned  the  Tsars  to  return  to  Mos- 
cow, where  they  would  suffer  no  harm,  and  begged  them  not  to 
be  angry  with  them,  as  they  had  no  evil  designs.  The  Govern- 
ment at  once  replied  that  it  only  remained  for  the  Streltsi  to 
show  themselves  obedient  as  before,  and  cease  to  terrify  the 
whole  town  of  Moscow ;  and  as  for  Havansky,  who  had  been 
punished  for  his  treachery,  not  to  meddle  with  that  matter,  as 
punishment  and  mercy  wrere  left  by  God  to  the  rulers. 

The  arrival  at  Troitsa  of  adherents  from  all  sides  enabled 
the  court  to  act  decisively.  The  boyar  Michael  Golovin  was 
sent  to  govern  Moscow,  and  by  his  actions  showed  the  Streltsi 
that  they  no  longer  inspired  fear.  This  had  a  good  effect,  and 
on  October  2d  the  Streltsi  sent  a  delegation  to  Golovin,  praying 
that  they  might  be  allowed  to  send  a  certain  number  from  each 
regiment  to  Troitsa,  to  give  their  submission,  as  they  did  not 


1682.]  SUBMISSION   OF   THE   8TEELTSI.  97 

dare  to  do  so  without  an  order  to  that  effect.  An  order  was 
immediately  given  that  twenty  men  from  each  regiment  might 
go  to  Troitsa.  Two  days  later  the  Streltsi  petitioned  the  Patri- 
arch to  send  an  archbishop  with  them  to  Tro'itsa,  as  they  were 
afraid  to  go  alone.  The  Patriarch  sent  with  them  Hilarion,  the 
Metropolitan  of  Suzdal ;  but  even  this  did  not  entirely  quiet 
them.  Many  wTent  back  to  Moscow ;  the  remainder  were  pre- 
sented to  Sophia,  who  met  them  with  a  severe  reprimand  for 
their  misconduct,  and  showed  them  the  considerable  army  which 
had  been  collected  to  punish  them.  The  Streltsi  gave  a  writ- 
ten submission,  in  which  they  alleged  that  they  were  ready  to 
obey,  that  those  regiments  assigned  to  Kief  and  other  towns 
would  proceed  at  once,  that  they  would  restore  to  the  arsenal 
everything  which  had  been  taken,  and  would  be  most  obedient 
and  faithful  servants.  This,  however,  was  not  enough.  The 
llegent  promised  the  pardon  of  the  Streltsi  and  soldiers  only  on 
conditions  which  expressed,  in  very  exact  terms,  the  obedience 
which  would  be  required  of  them.  The  Streltsi  consented. 
Prince  Ivan  Havansky,  the  younger,  was  taken  to  Tro'itsa  and 
sentenced  to  death  ;  although,  when  his  head  was  on  the  block, 
his  punishment  was  commuted  to  exile. 

On  Sunday,  October  18,  the  Patriarch,  after  the  service  in 
the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption,  which  was  filled  with  Streltsi, 
placed  on  the  reading-desks  the  Gospel  and  a  precious  relic — 
the  arm  of  St.  Andrew,  the  first  missionary  to  Pussia,  and  pa- 
tron of  the  country.  The  new  articles  for  the  Streltsi  were 
read,  and  those  present  kissed  both  the  Gospel  and  the  relic  as 
a  sign  of  their  implicit  obedience.  The  court  remained  at 
Tro'itsa,  guarded  by  the  levies  of  the  nobility,  and  naturally 
the  Streltsi  were  brought  to  agree  to  a  final  concession.  On 
November  7,  they  presented  a  petition  asking  to  be  allowed  to 
pull  down  the  stone  column  which  had  been  erected  on  the  Red 
Place  in  commemoration  of  the  events  of  May.  The  permis- 
sion was  of  course  given.  The  column  was  destroyed  to  its 
foundation  on  November  12,  the  iron  plates,  with  the  inscrip- 
tion, were  torn  off  and  burnt,  and  even  the  foundation  was  dug 
up  out  of  the  ground.  The  rescripts  given  to  the  Streltsi  after 
the  May  riots  were  returned,  and  new  ones  given  in  their  stead. 
All  the  troubles  of  the  spring  and  summer  were  now  ascribed 
Vol.  I.— 7 


98 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


to  Prince  Ilavanskv  and  the  Dissenter  Colonel  Alexis  Yiidin ; 
and  it  was  Eorbidden  to  call  the  Streltsi  traitors  or  rebels. 

Four  davs  after  this,  on  November  16,  the  court  returned  to 
Moscow,  surrounded  by  the  troops  of  the  nobility,  who  acted 
as  guards  instead  of  the  Streltsi.  The  Department  of  the 
Streltsi — for  now  they  were  no  longer  to  be  called  the  '  Palace 
Guard ' — was  placed,  temporarily  in  the  hands  of  the  okolnit- 
chy  Zmeief,  and  a  month  afterwards  was  given  to  the  councillor 
Theodore  Shaklovity. 

The  new  commander  soon  showed  his  firmness,  and  by  his 

vigorous  measures  succeeded  in  rap- 
idly getting  the  Streltsi  under  con- 
trol. He  took  occasion  of  various 
infringements  of  discipline  to  re- 
arrange all  the  regiments  and  to 
transfer  the  worst  and  most  riotous 
of  the  Streltsi  to  the  cities  of  the 
Ukraine.  In  this  way  he  restored 
quiet  to  the  town  without  exciting 
any  great  bad  feeling  on  the  part 
of  the  Streltsi,  for  he  was  concilia- 
tory as  well  as  adroit  and  firm. 
The  most  important  of  his  meas- 
ures were  formed  into  a  new  code 
for  the  government  of  the  troops, 
and  inserted  in  the  laws  as  an  act 
to  punish  riotous  conduct  and  in- 
flammatory language.  It  took  a  longer  time  to  put  down  the  dis- 
turbances in  the  remoter  provinces,  which  had  been  set  going  by 
news  of  the  success  of  the  Streltsi,  and  by  seditious  letters  from 
Moscow.  It  was  of  the  more  importance  to  restore  order  to  the 
country  as  speedily  as  possible,  because  the  Poles  had  taken  oc- 
casion of  the  riots  at  Moscow  to  cause  disturbances  in  the  border 
provinces,  with  the  hope  of  getting  them  into  their  possession. 
Strict  orders  were  therefore  sent  everywhere  to  governors  to 
arrest  and  punish  all  runaway  Streltsi,  to  restore  to  their  masters 
all  fugitive  serfs,  and  to  punish  severely  robbery  and  marauding. 
Various  old  laws  which  had  been  abolished  or  moderated  in  the 
time  of  Theodore  were  restored  in  all  their  severity.     The  fingers 


Guards  of    State  at    Receptions  and    Pro- 
cessions. 


1682.]  PRINCE   BASIL   GOLITSYN.  99 

of  thieves  were  to  be  cut  off,  and  the  third  offence  was  punishable 
with  death.  Later  on  this  was  mitigated,  in  so  far  that,  for  the 
first  offence  the  criminals  lost  their  ears  and  not  their  fingers. 
Most  difficulty  was  found  in  appeasing  the  always  unruly  country 
of  the  Don  Cossacks,  and  in  putting  down  the  bands  of  marau- 
ders which  started  from  that  region,  and  which  constantly  threat- 
ened to  bring  about  a  new  revolution,  equalling  in  proportion 
that  of  the  famous  Stenka  Razin.  The  perseverance  of  Sophia 
and  the  firmness  of  her  ministers  at  last  brought  about  a  tolera- 
ble pacification  of  the  whole  country. 

The  youth  of  Peter,  the  loneliness  and  friendless  condition 
of  his  mother,  and  the  imbecility  of  Ivan,  left  Sophia  mistress 
of  the  situation.  Her  right  to  rule  had  been  recognised  by  the 
decree  which  inserted  her  name  as  Kegent,  and,  on  the  whole, 
she  ruled  well  for  seven  years,  and  with  advantage  to  Russia. 
At  first  she  made  no  appearance  in  public  as  a  member  of  the 
Government,  although  she  transacted  business  with  the  higher 
officials  and  sometimes  received  foreign  embassies.  She  was, 
however,  so  little  in  public  view  that  the  diplomatists  of  that 
time  rarely  speak  of  her  in  their  despatches,  but  always  of 
Prince  Golitsyn  as  the  real  ruler  of  Muscovy.  Her  name  ap- 
peared in  public  decrees  only  as  '  The  Most  Orthodox  Princess, 
the  Sister  of  Their  Majesties,'  until  the  end  of  16S5,  when,  for 
the  first  time,  she  is  mentioned  as  Autocrat  on  an  equality  with 
her  brothers,  and  it  was  not  until  two  years  later  that  a  formal 
decree  was  issued  to  this  effect,  punishing  certain  persons  who 
had  drawn  up  papers  without  inserting  the  word  Autocrat  after 
her  name. 

The  greatest  figure  during  Sophia's  reign  is  Prince  Basil 
Golitsyn,  whom  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  mention  sev- 
eral times.  He  was  born  in  1643,  of  one  of  the  great  Russian 
families  descended  from  the  rulers  of  Lithuania,  had  served 
with  distinction  in  the  campaign  against  the  Turks  at  Tchig- 
irin,  and  as  we  already  know,  had  taken  the  leading  part  in  the 
abolition  of  precedence.  During  the  May  riots  he  had  been 
given  the  direction  of  foreign  affairs  by  the  temporary  Govern- 
ment, and,  after  the  Government  of  Sophia  had  become  regu- 
larly established,  he  received  by  a  decree  the  title  of  Keeper  of 
the  Great  Seal,  or  Chancellor.     His  more  immediate  duties, 


100  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

however,  always  remained  those  of  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 
Of  his  character  as  a  statesman  it  will  be  more  easy  to  judge 
when  we  have  considered  the  chief  events  of  Sophia's  reign, 
and  especially  the  new  relations  which  Russia  then  entered  into 
with  foreign  powers.  As  a  man,  Golitsyn  had  received  a  good 
education,  and  was  imbued  with  Western  culture  and  Western 
ideas.  By  his  dignity,  his  ready  courtesy,  and,  above  all,  by 
his  wealth  and  magnificence,  he  produced  a  great  impression  on 
all  the  foreign  ambassadors  with  whom  he  came  into  contact, 
with  whom  he  could  talk  in  Latin  without  the  aid  of  an  in- 
terpreter ;  and  Baron  van  Keller,  and  especially  jSeuville, — an 
agent  sent  to  Moscow  by  the  Marquis  de  Bethune,  the  French 
ambassador  in  Poland, — were  particularly  under  his  charm. 
Keuville  speaks  of  the  splendour  of  his  house  and  the  urbanity 
of  his  manners — so  different  from  those  of  the  other  Russians 
whom  he  met,  calls  him  a  veritable  grand  seigneur,  and  says 
that  on  entering  the  house  of  Prince  Golitsyn  he  thought  he 
was  in  the  palace  of  some  great  Italian  prince,  lie  was  much 
struck,  too,  by  the  circumstance  that  Golitsyn,  instead  of  press- 
ing him  to  drink,  as  was  the  Russian  habit,  advised  him  on  the 
contrary  not  to  take  the  small  glass  of  vodka  brought  in  on  the 
arrival  of  guests,  as  it  could  not  be  pleasant  to  a  foreigner. 
Golitsyn  sought  the  society  of  foreigners,  dined  and  supped  at 
the  houses  of  the  foreign  envoys,  as  well  as  of  the  chief  officers 
in  the  German  suburb  ;  was  in  intimate  relations  with  General 
Gordon;  and,  among  other  things,  protected  the  young  Swiss. 
Lefort,  who  was  destined  afterward  to  hold  a  position  rivalling 
his  own.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  ideas  and  plans  of  Golitsyn, 
as  recounted  by  jSTeuville,  for  the  development  of  trade  in  Si- 
beria, for  the  reform  of  the  military  organisation  of  the  country 
and  of  the  internal  legislation,  as  well  as  for  a  possible  emanci- 
pation  of  the  serfs,  all  of  which  remained  merely  as  projects — 
for  the  state  of  things  during  the  government  of  Sophia  left  no 
chance  to  carry  them  out — we  must  consider  him  as  one  of  the 
in'  tst  liberal-minded  men  of  that  epoch,  and  fully  fitted  to  sympa- 
thise with  and  carry  out  the  reforms  of  Theodore,  and  even  of 
Peter.  When  Golitsyn  was  condemned  and  banished,  in  1689, 
a  full  inventory  of  all  the  property  in  his  house  was.  taken, 
which  still  exists  in  the  archives  of  the  Ministry  of  Justice. 


1682.]  Sophia's  ministers.  101 

From  this  we  can  form  some  idea  of  his  magnificence  as  well  as 
of  his  tastes.  Besides  costly  furniture  and  tapestry  hangings, 
equipages,  busts,  painted  glass,  carvings  in  wood  and  ivory, 
mathematical  and  physical  instruments,  a  tellurium  in  gold  and 
silver,  portraits  of  the  Tsars  as  well  as  of  the  princes  of  West- 
ern Europe,  crystal,  precious  stones,  and  silver  plate  and  musi- 
cal instruments,  there  were  silver  mountings  for  horse  trappings 
and  harness  to  the  value  of  what  would  now  be  eight  thousand 
pounds,  and  an  immense  sum  in  silver  coin.  In  his  library 
there  were  books  in  several  different  languages,  many  historical 
works,  and,  what  is  most  interesting,  a  manuscript  of  an  ency- 
clopaedical work  on  statesmanship  and  political  economy,  with  a 
special  reference  to  Russia,  written  by  the  learned  Serbian,  Yury 
Krvzhanitch,  in  his  exile  at  Tobolsk,  which  now  serves  as  most 
precious  material  for  estimating  the  character  of  the  time  just 
before  Peter.  In  it  are  developed  all  the  ideas  of  reform  then 
current  among  the  few,  some  of  which  were  carried  into  effect 
by  Peter. 

Prince  Ivan  Miloslavsky  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
councils  of  Sophia  until  his  death,  which  occurred  soon  after. 
But  the  man  on  whom  she  and  Golitsyn  relied  more  than  the 
rest  for  the  execution  of  their  designs  was  Theodore  Shaklovity, 
the  new  commander  of  the  Streltsi.  He  was,  by  origin,  from 
Little  Russia,  apparently  without  more  than  the  rudiments  of 
an  education,  but  adroit,  decided,  and  devoted.  He  was  ready 
to  carry  out  any  order  of  his  sovereign,  no  matter  what.  The 
command  of  his  superior  was  for  him  a  sufficient  reason,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  his  devotion  was  such  that  he  was  willing  to 
engage  in  plots  and  intrigues  on  a  mere  hint,  in  order  to 
advance  the  interests  of  his  master. 

The  councils  of  Spphia  were  completed  on  their  spiritual 
side  by  the  monk  Sylvester  Medvedief,  a  countryman  of 
Shaklovity,  who  had  originally  been  a  brilliant  young  civilian, 
and  at  one  time  had  been  attached  to  a  great  embassy  to  Cur- 
land.  He  preferred,  however,  to  give  up  civil  life,  and  to 
enter  the  Church.  He  was  a  zealous  disciple  of  Simeon  Polot- 
sky,  the  tutor  of  the  Tsar  Theodore  and  the  Princess  Sophia, 
and,  as  such,  was  thought  to  be  tainted  with  Romish  heresies. 
His  contemporaries  considered  him  the  most  learned  man  in 


102  PETEE  THE  GREAT. 

Russia,  and  lie  wrote  several  theological  works,  one  of  them 
called  v  Manna,5  in  which  he  carried  on  a  heated  controversy 
with  the  Patriarch  Joachim,  on  a  question  which  then  greatly 
divided  both  clergy  and  laymen  in  Russia — namely,  the  actual 
moment  when  Transubstantiation  began  during  the  celebration 
of  the  Eucharist.  For  us,  he  chiefly  lives  in  his  short  but 
interesting  memoirs  of  the  early  part  of  Sophia's  reign  and  of 
the  troubles  of  1682.' 


1  Ustrialof,  I.  iv.  ;  Solovief,  vols.  xiii.,  xiv.  ;  Pogodin ;  Medvediefs  Me- 
moirs; Aristof;  Kostornarof,  Russian  History  in  the  Lives  of  its  Actors 
(Russian),  St.  Petersburg;  Bruckner,  Peter  der  Grosse ;  Bruckner,  FurstW. 
Gol'itsyn  in  the  Russische  Revue,  1878  ;  M.  Posselt,  Franz  Lefort,  sein  Leben 
und  seine  Zeit,  Frankfurt,  1866;  Kryzhanitch,  The  Russian  State  (Russian), 
Moscow,  1859  ;  Neuville,  Relation  curieuse  et  nouvelle  de  Moscovie,  Paris,  16'.)*  ; 
Papers  in  the  Russian  and  Dutch  Archives ;  Complete  Collection  of  Russian 
Laws,  954. 


XL 

THE  BOYHOOD  OF   PETER.— HIS  MILITARY  EXERCISES,  AND  THE 
BEGINNING  OF  BOAT-BUILDING.— 1082-1688. 

During  the  early  period  of  Sophia's  regency,  Peter  was  left 
very  much  to  himself.  But  as  his  name  was  used  in  all  public 
documents  he  was  required  to  sign  many  of  them,  and  he  seems 
to  have  performed  this  part  of  his  duty  with  punctuality  and 
accuracy.  He  had  also  to  go  to  Moscow,  on  occasions  of  cere- 
mony, to  take  part  in  the  reception  of  foreign  ambassadors,  and 
to  be  present  at  state  banquets,  and  at  the  ceremonies  and 
processions  on  religious  festivals.  The  Polish  envoy,  in  his  re- 
port on  affairs  at  Moscow,  stated  that  Sophia  was  exceedingly 
fond  of  her  brother  Peter,  and  was  endeavouring  to  put  the 
state  in  good  condition  in  order  to  hand  the  Government  over 
to  him  when  he  became  old  enough.  The  sincerity  of  her 
attachment  to  Peter  we  may  be  allowed  to  doubt,  but  she  at 
least  manifested  no  open  ill-will  to  him,  and,  indeed,  there  are 
several  entries  in  the  books  of  the  court  of  her  favourable  dis- 
position to  him.  Thus,  in  July,  1684,  she  presented  him  with 
some  diamond  clasps,  buttons  and  stars.  With  his  brother 
Ivan,  Peter  was  always  on  the  best  of  terms,  and  especially  so 
after  the  Government  had  become  settled.  Yan  Keller,  writing 
in  16S3  of  Peter's  residence  in  the  country,  says :  '  The  natural 
love  and  intelligence  between  the  two  Lords  is  even  better  than 
before.     God  will  it  long  continue  so.' 

So  much  was  Peter's  mind  set  on  military  objects,  and  on 
playing  at  soldiers,  that  even  a  day  or  two  after  the  first  riot 
of  the  Streltsi,  we  hear  of  his  sending  down  to  the  arsenal  for 
drums,  banners  and  arms.  (The  troubles  of  the  Dissenters  and 
of  Prince  Havansky  naturally  kept  him  from  indulging  the  full 
bent  of  his  inclinations  in  the  country,  and  for  the  rest  of  the 


104  PETEE    THE    GREAT. 

year  he  was  detained  in  Moscow  by  official  duties.  Early  in 
1G83,  however,  we  find  him  ordering  uniforms,  banners,  and 
wooden  cannon,  all  of  which  were  immediately  furnished  by 
the  authorities,  and  as  soon  as  he  was  able  to  go  into  the  coun- 
try, to  Preobrazhensky  and  to  the  Sparrow  Jlills,  messengers 
caiiic  almost  daily  to  the  Kremlin  for  lead,  powder  and  shot. 
On  his  eleventh  birthday — in  1683 — he  was  allowed  for  the 
first  time  to  have  some  real  guns,  with  which  he  fired  salutes, 
under  the  direction  of  a  German  artilleryman  named  Simon 
S. nmner,  who  had  recently  come  from  foreign  part,  and  was  a 
captain  in  the  regiment  of  General  Shepelof.  After  this  he 
was  allowed  small  brass  and  iron  cannon  ;  and  that  he  might 
indulge  his  taste  for  music  as  well  as  for  military  pastime, 
musicians — especially  drummer-boys — were  selected  for  him 
from  the  different  regiments.  About  that  time — July,  16S3 — a 
German  traveller,  named  Engelbert  Kampfer,  passed  through 
Moscow  on  his  way  to  Astrakhan,  and,  in  his  diary,  which  still 
exists  in  manuscript  in  the  British  Museum,  tells  of  his  recep- 
tion at  the  Russian  court,  as  acting  secretary  for  the  Swedish 
Envoy,  Fabricius  : — 

'  Here  we  got  off  our  horses,  and,  handing  our  swords  to  a 
servant,  walked  up  some  steps  and  passed  through  a  building 
magnificent  with  gilded  vaults,  and  then  through  an  open  stone 
parage,  again  to  the  left,  and  through  an  anteroom  in  the  audi- 
ence hall,  the  floor  of  which  was  covered  with  Turkish  carpets, 
where  we  came  to  the  "  piercing  eyes  "  of  their  Tsarish  Majes- 
ties. Both  their  Majesties  sat,  not  in  the  middle,  but  some- 
what to  the  right  side  of  the  hall,  next  to  the  middle  column, 
and  sat  on  a  silver  throne  like  a  bishop's  chair,  somewhat  raised 
and  covered  with  red  cloth,  as  was  most  of  the  hall.  Over  the 
throne  hung  a  holy  picture.  The  Tsars  wore,  over  their  coats, 
robes  of  silver  cloth  woven  with  red  and  white  flowers,  and,  in- 
stead of  sceptres,  had  long  golden  staves  bent  at  the  end  like 
bishops'  croziers,  on  which,  as  on  the  breast-plate  of  their  robes, 
their  breasts  and  their  caps,  glittered  white,  green  and  other 
precious  stones.  The  elder  drew  his  cap  down  over  his  eyes 
several  time.-,  and,  with  looks  cast  down  on  the  floor,  sat  almost 
immovable.  The  younger  had  a  frank  and  open  face,  and  his 
young  blood  rose  to  his  cheeks  as  often  as  anyone  spoke  to  him. 


1684.]  petek's  boyhood.  105 

lie  constantly  looked  about,  and  his  great  beauty  and  his  lively 
manner — which  sometimes  brought  the  Muscovite  magnates  into 
confusion — struck  all  of  us  so  much  that  had  he  been  an  ordi- 
nary youth  and  no  imperial  personage  we  would  gladly  have 
laughed  and  talked  with  him.  The  elder  was  seventeen,  and 
the  younger  sixteen  years  old.  When  the  Swedish  Envoy  gave 
his  letters  of  credence,  both  Tsars  rose  from  their  places,  slightly 
bared  their  heads  and  asked  about  the  king's  health,  but  Ivan, 
the  elder,  somewhat  hindered  the  proceedings  through  not  un- 
derstanding what  was  going  on,  and  gave  his  hand  to  be  kissed 
at  the  wrong  time.  Peter  was  so  eager  that  he  did  not  give  the 
secretaries  the  usual  time  for  raising  him  and  his  brother  from 
their  seats  and  touching  their  heads  :  he  jumped  up  at  once, 
put  his  own  hand  to  his  hat  and  began  quickly  to  ask  the  usual 
question :  "Is  his  royal  Majesty,  Carolus  of  Sweden,  in  good 
health  ? "  He  had  to  be  pulled  back  until  the  elder  brother  had 
a  chance  of  speaking.' 

It  was  evident  that  Peter  must  have  been  a  large,  healthy 
boy,  if  when  he  was  only  eleven  he  appeared  to  Kampfer  and 
the  Swedish  mission  to  be  sixteen. 

It  is  interesting  to  compare  with  this  the  account  of  Johann 
Eberhard  Hovel,  who  in  the  next  year,  1681,  came  on  a  mission 
from  the  Emperor  Leopold  I.  Peter  was  at  that  time  ill  with 
the  measles — an  illness  which  excited  considerable  alarm  among 
his  partisans — and  was  unable  to  receive.  Hovel,  therefore, 
saw  no  one  but  the  Tsar  Ivan.  He  says  that  when  the  health 
of  the  Emperor  was  asked  about,  the  Tsar  was  so  weak  from 
long  standing  that  he  had  to  be  supported  by  his  two  chamber- 
lains, who  held  up  his  arms,  and  he  spoke  with  a  very  weak  and 
inarticulate  voice.  General  Gordon,  who  was  received  a  few 
days  later,  January  22,  had  tried  to  put  off  his  reception  in 
order  to  see  both  the  Tsars  at  once  ;  but  as  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  soon  for  his  command  at  Kief,  was  received  only  by  Ivan 
and  Sophia.  According  to  his  account,  Ivan  was  sickly  and 
weak,  and  always  looked  toward  the  ground.  He  said  nothing 
himself,  and  all  the  questions  were  put  through  Prince  Golitsyn. 
This  was  just  after  the  marriage  of  Ivan  with  Praskovia  S61- 
tykof,  of  a  distinguished  family.  This  marriage  Hovel,  as  well 
as  many  other  people,  considered  to  be  a  plot  on  the  part  of 


106  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

Sophia  to  obtain  heirs  from  the  elder  brother,  and  thus  get  rid 
of  the  claims  of  Peter,  whom  he  calls  '  a  youth  of  great  expect- 
ancy, prudence,  and  vigour/  Considering,  however,  that  Ivan, 
in  spite  of  the  infirmities  of  his  eyes,  his  tongue  and  his  mind, 
was  in  fairly  good  health,  it  was  the  most  natural  thing  in  the 
world  that  his  friends  should  desire  him  to  marry.  Later  in 
the  same  year,  in  June,  Laurent  Kinhuber,  a  doctor  of  medi- 
cine, coming  from  Saxony,  was  received  at  court,  and  was 
granted  an  audience  by  the  Tsars.  He  says:  'Then  I  kissed 
the  right  hand  of  Peter,  who,  with  a  half-laughing  mouth,  gave 
me  a  friendly  and  gracious  look  and  immediately  held  out  to 
me  his  hand  ;  while  the  hands  of  the  Tsar  Ivan  had  to  be  sup- 
ported. He  is  a  remarkably  good-looking  boy,  in  whom  nature 
has  shown  her  power  ;  and  has  so  many  advantages  of  nature 
that  being  the  son  of  a  king  is  the  least  of  his  good  qualities. 
He  has  a  beauty  which  gains  the  heart  of  all  who  see  him,  and 
a  mind  which,  even  in  his  early  years,  did  not  find  its  like.' 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year,  1684,  Peter  had  another 
attack  of  illness,  which  was  more  severe  than  the  measles  and 
which  caused  great  alarm.  His  recovery  excited  universal  joy, 
more  especially  in  the  foreign  quarter  of  Moscow.  There  were 
many  banquets  and  feasts  in  honour  of  his  convalescence,  and 
Prince  Boris  Golitsyn,  the  cousin  of  the  Chancellor  and  the 
chief  adviser  of  Peter,  together  with  other  Russians  of  that  party, 
dined  with  the  Dutch  minister,  and  caroused  till  a  late  hour. 
A  year  later,  in  September,  1GS5,  Van  Keller  writes: — 

'  The  young  Tsar  has  now  entered  his  thirteenth  year :  na- 
ture develops  herself  with  advantage  and  good  fortune  in  his 
whole  personality  ;  his  stature  is  great  and  his  mien  is  fine  ;  he 
grows  visibly,  and  advances  as  much  in  intelligence  and  under- 
standing as  he  gains  the  affection  and  love  of  all.  He  has  such 
a  strong  preference  for  military  pursuits  that  when  he  comes  of 
age  we  may  surely  expect  from  him  brave  actions  and  heroic 
deeds,  and  we  may  hope  that  some  day  the  attacks  of  the  Crim 
Tartars  will  be  somewhat  better  restrained  than  at  present.  This 
was  the  noble  aim  always  set  before  the  ancestors  of  the  young 
Tsar.' 

The  military  exercises  of  Peter  brought  him  into  constant 
contact  with  German  officers  at  Moscow,  for  all  the  best  officers 


1083.]  MILITARY   SPORTS.  107 

and  even  soldiers  were  foreigners,  and  it  was  necessary  to  draw 
on  the  German  suburb  for  the  officers  and  instructors  for  the 
new  regiment  which  was  organised,  at  the  end  of  1683,  for 
Peter's  amusement.  The  first  man  who  was  enrolled  as  a 
soldier  in  the  regiment  was  Sergius  Bukhvastof,  one  of  the 
grooms  of  the  palace,  and  Peter  was  so  much  struck  with  his 
readiness,  and  so  much  pleased  with  the  formation  of  this  regi- 
ment, that  long  afterward  he  ordered  the  Italian  artist  Rastrelli, 
then  a  favourite  in  St.  Petersburg,  to  cast  a  life-size  statue  of 
him  as  the  first  Russian  soldier.  Other  volunteers  soon  pre- 
sented themselves,  and  Peter  himself  enlisted  as  bombardier, 
for  which  duty  he  had  an  especial  fancy,  and  then  passed 
through  the  various  grades  until  he  became  colonel  and  chief 
of  the  regiment.  Among  the  other  volunteers  were  Yekim 
Voronin  and  Gregory  Liikin — at  whose  deaths,  during  the 
siege  of  Azof,  Peter  grieved  greatly,  '  as  he  and  they  had  been 
brought  up  together' — and  Alexander  Menshikof,  the  future 
favourite.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  celebrated  Preo- 
brazhensky Regiment,  even  now  the  first  regiment  of  the 
Imperial  guard,  and  of  which  the  Emperor  is  always  the  chief. 
The  name  Preobrazhensky  was  given  to  it  first  because  it  was 
formed  and  quartered  at  the  palace  and  village  of  Preobrazhen- 
sky, or  the  Transfiguration,  which,  in  turn,  took  their  name 
from  the  village  church.  Peter  and  his  friends  called  this  regi- 
ment, and  others  which  were  afterwards  formed,  '  the  guards,' 
but  the  common  name  for  them  at  Moscow  was  the  Potieslmie 
Ivoniiikhi — i.e.  '  Amusements  Grooms,'  or  '  Troops  for  Sport.' 

The  number  of  volunteers  for  this  regiment  increased  so 
rapidly  that  the  village  of  Preobrazhensky  could  not  hold  them 
all,  and  it  was  necessary  to  quarter  some  of  the  soldiers  in  the 
adjoining  village  of  Semenofsky,  where  another  regiment  called 
the  Semenofsky  Regiment  grew  up.  All  the  young  nobles  who 
desired  to  gain  Peter's  good  graces  followed  his  example  by 
enrolling  themselves  in  one  of  these  regiments.  Thus,  Prince 
M.  M.  Golitsyn,  the  future  Field  Marshal,  began  his  service  as 
drummer  in  the  Semenofsky  Regiment,  and  Ivan  Ivanovitch 
Buturlin  served  up  to  the  rank  of  major  in  the  Preobrazhen- 
sky Regiment. 

Peter  entered  upon  his  military  exercises  with  such  zest  that 


108  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

they  ceased  to  be  mere  child's  play.  He  himself  performed 
every  exercise,  giving  himself  no  rest  night  or  day.  lie  stood 
his  Match  in  turn,  took  his  share  of  the  duties  of  the  camp, 
slept  in  the  same  tent  with  his  comrades,  and.  partook  of  their 
fare.  There  was  no  distinction  made  between  the  Tsar  and  the 
least  of  his  subjects.  When  his  volunteers  became  proficient  in 
their  discipline,  he  used  to  lead  them  on  long  marches  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  his  country  home,  and  went  at  times  even  as 
far  as  the  Trinity  Monastery  at  Kaliazin.  As  his  followers 
were  armed,  these  marches  were  in  the  nature  of  campaigns, 
and  the  troops,  such  as  they  were,  were  under  strict  military 
discipline,  and  were  regularly  encamped  at  night  with  the  usual 
military  precautions.  In  1685,  when  Peter  was  thirteen  years 
old,  he  resolved,  on  something  further,  and,  in  order  to  practise 
the  assault  and  defence  of  fortifications,  began  to  construct  a 
small  fortress  on  the  banks  of  the  Yauza,  at  Preobrazhensky, 
the  remains  of  which  are  still  visible  on  the  edge  of  the  Sokol- 
niki  wood.  This  fort,  probably  at  the  suggestion  of  one  of  the 
German  officers,  was  called  Pressburg.  It  was  built  with  a 
considerable  amount  of  care,  timber  wTas  drawn  for  the  purpose 
from  Moscow,  and  its  construction  took  the  greater  part  of  the 
year.  Peter  named  it  with  great  ceremony,  leading  a  procession 
from  Moscow  which  included  most  of  the  court  officials  and 
nobles.  All  this,  as  has  been  said,  brought  Peter  into  very 
close  relations  with  the  foreign  suburb,  and  the  foreigners  in 
Moscow  were  fond  of  social  amusements,  always  accompanied, 
according  to  their  habits,  with  beer,  wine,  and  tobacco.  Peter, 
who  was  precocious,  both  physically  and  mentally,  took  his  full 
share  in  these  entertainments  and  on  the  return  feasts  he  gave 
it  may  be  imagined  that  there  was  no  stint  of  drink.  With 
such  society  Peter  gained  not  only  a  knowledge  of  men  and  of 
the  world,  but  his  mquiring  mind  led  him  to  be  curious  about 
many  subjects  which  rarely  before  had  troubled  the  head  of  a 
Russian  Prince.  Without  regard  to  rank  or  position,  he  was 
always  glad  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  those  from  whom  he 
could  learn  anything,  and  was  especially  attracted  by  all  that 
was  mechanically  curious. 

Frequently,  for  amusement,  he  used  to  hammer  and  forge 
at  the  blacksmith's  shop.     lie  had  already  become  expert  with 


1685.]  HIS   AMUSEMENTS.  109 

the  lathe,  and  we  have  documentary  evidence  to  prove  that  he 
had  practically  learnt  the  mechanical  operation  of  printing  as 
well  as  the  binding  of  books.  We  can  believe  that  the  Electress 
Charlotte  Sophia  did  not  exaggerate  when,  in  1697,  in  describ- 
ing her  interview  with  Peter,  she  said  that  he  '  already  knew 
excellently  well  fourteen  trades.' 

All  this  was  a  school  for  Peter ;  but  do  not  let  us  be  led 
astray  by  the  word  school.  Peter's  military  education  was  such 
as  he  chose  to  give  himself,  and  entirely  for.  his  own  amuse- 
ment. There  was  nothing  in  it  similar  to  the  regular  course  of 
military  training  practised  in  a  cadet  school.  Peter  was  only 
too  glad  to  escape  from  the  nursery  and  house  to  the  amuse- 
ments of  the  street  and  the  fields.  Although  we  know  that  in 
the  Russia  of  that  day  the  intellectual  development  of  a  youth 
did  not  at  all  keep  pace  with  his  physical  growth,  and  that 
when  a  lad  was  grown  to  the  stature  of  a  man,  he  immediately 
assumed  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  a  man,  though  in 
mind  he  might  be  still  a  child ;  yet  there  was  generally  the 
semblance  of  discipline.  The  way  in  which  Peter  seems  to  have 
slipped  through  the  hands  of  his  instructors,  tutors  and  guar- 
dians shows  not  only  his  strong  self-will,  but  the  disorganisation 
of  his  party,  and  the  carelessness  of  his  family.  Such  a  training- 
may  have  been  useful,  and,  indeed,  it  was  useful  to  Peter ;  at 
all  events  it  was  better  than  nothing ;  but  in  no  sense  of  the 
term  can  it  be  considered  education.  This  Peter  himself,  in 
later  life,  admitted,  and  the  Empress  Elizabeth  tells  how,  when 
she  was  bending  over  her  books  and  exercises,  her  father  re- 
gretted that  he  had  not  been  obliged  or  enabled  to  do  the  same. 

One  more  word  with  regard  to  Peter's  military  amusements. 
They  were,  as  we  have  said,  mere  amusements,  and  had  not  the 
regularity  or  the  plan  which  subsequent  chroniclers  and  anecdote- 
writers  ascribe  to  them.  In  playiug  at  soldiers,  Peter  followed 
his  natural  inclination,  and  had  in  his  head  no  plan  whatever  for 
reorganising  or  putting  on  a  better  footing  the  military  forces  of 
his  country.  The  reorganisation  of  the  Russian  army,  indeed, 
grew  out  of  the  campaigns  and  exercises  at  Preobrazhensky  ;  but 
it  was  not  until  real  war  began  that  Peter  saw  of  what  service 
these  exercises  had  been  to  him  and  to  others,  and  found  that 
the  boy-soldiers  could  easily  be  made  the  nucleus  of  an  arm}'. 


110  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

The  year  1688  was  an  important  one  for  Peter.  In  January 
he  was  induced  by  his  sister  Sophia  to  take  part  for  the  first 
time  in  a  council  of  state,  and  thus  made  his  public  appearance 
in  political  life  in  something  more  than  a  mere  formal  way. 
But  his  mind  was  at  that  time  too  full  of  his  military  exercises 
for  him  to  care  for  state  affairs,  and,  after  visiting  all  the  public 
offices  on  the  day  of  commemoration  of  the  death  of  his  father, 
when  he  gave  money  to  some  prisoners  and  set  others  free,  he 
went  back  again  to  the  country,  to  his  troops.  Later  on,  his  in- 
tellect began  to  awaken,  and  he  seriously  applied  himself  to 
study ;  and  then,  too,  his  thoughts  were  first  turned  to  naviga- 
tioii  and  things  naval,  which  soon  became  the  ruling  passion  of 
his  life.  He  told  the  story  himself,  long  afterwards,  in  his  pre- 
face to  the  '  Maritime  Regulations.' 

He  had  heard  somewhere  that  abroad,  in  foreign  parts,  peo- 
ple had  an  instrument  by  which  distances  could  be  measured 
without  moving  from  the  spot.  "When  Prince  Jacob  Dolgo- 
riiky  was  about  to  start  on  his  mission  to  France,  and  came  to 
take  his  leave,  Peter  told  him  of  this  wonderful  instrument,  and 
begged  him  to  procure  him  one  abroad.  Dolgoriiky  told  him 
he  himself  had  once  had  one,  which  was  given  him  as  a  present, 
but  it  had  been  stolen,  and  that  he  would  certainly  not  forget 
to  bring  one  home.  On  Dolgoriiky's  return  in  May,  1688,  the 
first  question  of  Peter  was  whether  he  had  fulfilled  his  promise ; 
and  great  was  the  excitement  as  the  box  was  opened  and  a  par- 
cel containing  an  astrolabe  and  a  sextant  was  eagerly  unwrapped  ; 
but,  alas  !  when  they  were  brought  out  no  one  knew  the  use  of 
them.  Dolgoriiky  scratched  his  head,  and  said  that  he  had 
brought  the  instrument,  as  directed,  but  it  had  never  occurred 
to  him  to  ask  how  it  was  used.  In  vain  Peter  sought  for  some 
one  who  knew  its  use.  At  last  his  new  doctor,  Zacharias  von 
der  Ilulst,  told  him  that  in  the  German  suburb  he  knew  of  a 
man  with  a  notion  of  mechanics — Franz  Timmermann,  a  Dutch 
merchant,  who  had  long  ago  settled  in  Moscow,  and  who  had  a 
certain  amount  of  education.  Timmermann  was  brought  next 
day.  He  looked  at  the  instrument,  and,  after  a  long  inspection, 
finally  said  he  could  show  how  it  should  be  used.  Immediately 
he  measured  the  distance  to  a  neighbouring  house.  A  man 
was  at  once  sent  to  pace  it,  and  found  the  measurement  correct. 


1688.]  THE   FIRST   BOAT.  Ill 

Peter  was  delighted,  and  asked  to  be  instructed  in  the  use  of 
the  neM-  instrument.  Timmermann  said  :  '  With  pleasure  ;  but 
you  must  first  learn  arithmetic  and  geometry.'  Peter  had  once 
begun  studying  arithmetic,  but  was  deficient  in  its  full  knowl- 
edge. He  did  not  even  know  how  to  subtract  or  divide.  He 
now  set  to  work  with  a  will,  and  spent  his  leisure  time,  both  day 
and  night,  over  his  copybooks.  These  are  still  preserved  at  St. 
Petersburg,  and  we  find  there  many  problems,  written  in  the 
hand  of  Timmermann,  with  Peter's  efforts  at  solution.  The 
writing  is  careless,  and  faults  of  grammar  abound ;  but  the 
ardour  and  resolution  with  which  Peter  worked  are  evident  on 
every  page.  Geometry  led  to  geography  and  fortification.  The 
old  globe  of  his  schoolroom  was  sent  for  repairs,  and  he  had, 
besides,  the  one  in  metal  presented  to  his  father,  which  still  is 
shown  in  the  treasury  at  Moscow. 

From  this  time  Timmermann  became  one  of  Peter's  con- 
stant companions,  for  he  was  a  man  from  whom  something 
new  could  always  be  learned.  A  few  weeks  later,  in  June, 
1688,  as  Peter  was  wandering  about  one  of  his  country  estates 
near  the  village  of  Ismailovo,  he  pointed  to  an  old  building  in 
the  flax-yard  and  asked  one  of  his  attendants  what  it  was.  '  A 
storehouse,'  replied  the  man,  'where  all  the  rubbish  was  put 
that  was  left  after  the  death  of  Kikita  Ivanovitch  Pomanof, 
who  used  to  live  here.'  This  Xikita  was  an  own  cousin  of  the 
Tsar  Michael  Romanof,  and  in  that  way  the  estate  had  de- 
scended to  Peter.  With  the  natural  curiosity  of  a  boy,  Peter 
had  the  doors  opened,  went  in,  and  looked  about.  There,  in 
one  corner,  turned  bottom  upward,  lay  a  boat,  yet  not  in  any 
way  like  those  flat-bottomed,  square-sterned  boats  which  he  had 
seen  on  the  Moskva  or  the  Yauza. 

'  "What  is  that  ? '  he  asked. 

'  That  is  an  English  boat,'  said  Timmermann. 

'  "What  is  it  good  for  ?  Is  it  better  than  our  boats  ? '  asked 
Peter. 

'  If  you  had  sails  to  it,  it  would  go  not  only  with  the  wind, 
but  against  the  wind,'  replied  Timmermann. 

'  How  against  the  wind  ?  Is  it  possible  ?  Can  that  be  pos- 
sible 2 ' 

Peter  wished  to  try  it  at  once.     But,  after  Timmermann 


112  PETEB   THE   GEEAT. 

had  looked  al  the  boat  on  all  sides,  it  was  found  to  be  too  rot- 
ten for  use;  it  would  need  to  be  repaired  and  tarred,  and,  be- 
Bide  that,  a  mast  and  sails  would  have  to  be  made.  Timmer- 
niann  at  last  thought  lie  could  find  a  man  capable  of  doing  this, 
and  sent  to  Isniailovo  a  certain  Carsten  Brandt,  who  had  been 
brought  from  Holland  about  1000  by  the  Tsar  Alexis,  for  the 
purpose  of  constructing  vessels  on  the  Caspian  Sea.  After  the 
troubles  of  Astrakhan,  when  his  vessel,  the  'Eagle,'  had  been 
burnt  bv  Stenka  Razin,  Brandt  had  returned  to  Moscow,  and 
had  remained  there,  making  a  living  as  a  joiner.  The  old  man 
looked  over  the  boat,  caulked  it,  put  in  the  mast  and  arranged 
the  sail,  and  then  launched  it  on  the  river  Yaiiza.  There,  be- 
fore Peter's  eyes,  he  began  to  sail  up  and  down  the  river,  turn- 
ing now  to  the  right  and  then  to  the  left.  Peter's  excitement 
was  intense.  lie  called  out  to  him  to  stop,  jumped  in,  and 
began  himself  to  manage  the  boat  under  Brandt's  directions. 
'  And  mighty  pleasant  it  was  to  me,'  he  writes  in  the  preface 
to  his  '  Maritime  Regulations,'  where  he  describes  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Russian  navy.  It  was  hard  for  the  boat  to  turn, 
for  the  river  was  narrow  and  the  water  was  too  shallow.  Peter 
eagerly  asked  where  a  broader  piece  of  water  could  be  found, 
and  was  told  of  the  Prosyany  Pool.  The  boat  was  dragged 
overland  to  the  Prosyany  Pool.  It  went  better,  but  still  not 
to  his  satisfaction.'  At  last  Peter  found  that  about  fifty  miles 
beyond  the  Troitsa  Monastery  there  was  a  good  large  lake, 
where  he  would  have  plenty  of  room  to  sail — Lake  Plestcheief, 
near  Pereyashivl.  It  was  not,  however,  so  easy  for  Peter  to 
get  there.  It  was  not  customary  for  the  Tsars  or  members  of 
their  family  to  make  journeys  without  some  recognised  object, 
and  what  should  a  boy  of  this  age  do  so  far  away,  and  alone  ( 
An  idea  struck  Peter.  It  was  then  June,  and  there  was  a  great 
festival  at  the  Troitsa  Monastery.  He  asked  his  mother's  per- 
mission to  go  to  Troitsa  for  the  festival,  and  as  soon  as  the 
religious  service  was  over  he  drove  as  fast  as  he  could  to  Lake 
Plestcheief.  The  country  was  at  that  time  delightful.  The 
low  hills  were  covered  with  the  fresh  green  of  the  birches, 

1  The  story  of  Peter's  terror  of  water,  and  of  the  efforts  he  made  in  order 
to  accustom  himself  to  it,  is  due  to  the  imagination  of  an  anecdote-mouger. 
and  is  without  foundation.     See  Ustrialof,  II.  332  pp. 


1088.]  AT   LAKE    PLESTCHEIEF.  113 

mixed  with  the  more  sturdy  lindens  and  the  pines  black  by 
contrast.  The  faint  smell  of  the  lilies  of  the  valley  came  up 
from  the  meadows  on  the  lake  shore.  Peter  did  not  notice 
this.  His  mind  was  too  intent  upon  navigation ;  he  saw  only 
that  the  lake  was  broad  enough,  for  it  stretched  out  of  sight. 
But  he  sooned  learned  that  there  was  no  boat  there,  and 
he  knew  that  it  was  too  far  to  bring  the  little  English  boat 
which  he  had  found  at  Ismailovo.  Anxiously  he  asked  Brandt 
whether  it  were  not  possible  to  build  some  boats  there. 

'  Yes,  sire,'  said  Brandt,  '  but  we  shall  require  many  things/ 

'  Ah,  well !  that  is  of  no  consequence,'  said  Peter.  '  AVe 
can  have  anything.' 

And  he  hastened  back  to  Moscow  with  his  head  full  of 
visions  of  shipbuilding.  lie  scarcely  knew  how  to  manage  it, 
for  to  engage  in  such  a  work  at  Lake  Plestcheief  would  require 
his  living  there  for  some  time,  and  he  knew  that  it  would  be 
hard  to  bring  his  mother  to  consent  to  this.  At  last  he  ex- 
torted this  consent,  but  he  was  obliged  to  wait  at  Moscow  for 
his  name's-day,  when  there  was  a  Te  Deum  at  the  Cathedral, 
after  which  the  boyars  and  grandees  paid  their  respects  at  the 
palace  and  received  cups  of  vodka  from  Peter  and  goblets  of 
wine  from  the  hands  of  his  mother.  He  hastened  off  the  next 
day — July  10 — together  with  Carsten  Brandt  and  a  shipbuilder 
named  Ivort,  an  old  comrade  whom  Brandt  had  succeeded  in 
finding  at  Moscow.  Timmermann,  probably,  also  accompanied 
him.  Fast  as  Peter  and  his  comrades  worked  together — for  he 
had  remained  with  them  in  the  woods — there  was  so  much  to 
do  in  the  preparation  of  timber,  in  the  construction  of  huts  to 
live  in,  and  of  a  dock  from  which  to  launch  the  boats,  that  it 
came  time  for  Peter  to  return  long  before  any  boat  was  ready, 
and  there  was  no  sign  that  any  could  be  got  ready  before  winter 
set  in.  The  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  had  grown  anxious  for  her  son.  He 
had  been  away  nearly  a  month,  and  political  affairs  were  taking 
a  serious  turn.  Much  to  his  regret,  therefore,  Peter  came  back 
to  Moscow  for  his  mother's  name's-day,  on  September  6,  leaving 
his  faithful  Dutchmen  strict  injunctions  to  do  their  utmost  to 
have  the  boats  ready  by  the  following  spring. 

The  place  chosen  by  Peter  for  his  shipbuilding,  was  on  the 
east  side  of  Lake  Plestcheief,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Trii- 
Vol.  I.— 8 


114  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

Ih'/.Ii.  The  only  traditions  still  remaining  of  Peter's  visit  are 
the  site  of  a  church  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  at  the  Ships,  and 
the  decaying  remains  of  some  piles  under  water,  which  appar- 
ently formed  the  wharf  or  landing-stage.  Lake  Plestcheief. 
nowadays,  is  famous  for  nothing  but  an  excellent  and  much- 
Bought-for  variety  of  fresh-water  herring. 

The  boat  which  Peter  found  at  Ismailovo  is  thought  by 
many  to  have  been  constructed,  in  Iiussia  by  Dutch  carpenters, 
in  1688,  during  the  reign  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  at  a  place  called 
Dedinovo,  at  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  Moskva  and  Oka. 
By  others  it  is  thought  to  be  a  boat  sent  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to 
the  Tsar  Ivan  the  Terrible.  Ever  since  Peter's  time  it  has 
borne  the  name  of  the  '  Grandsire  of  the  Russian  fleet,'  and  is 
preserved  with  the  greatest  care  in  a  small  brick  building  near 
the  Cathedral  of  Sts.  Peter  and  Paul,  within  the  fortress  at  St. 
Petersburg.  In  1ST0,  on  the  celebration  of  the  200th  anniver- 
sary of  Peter's  birth,  it  was  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  interest 
in  the  great  parade  at  St.  Petersburg ;  and.  again,  in  1872,  it 
was  conveyed  with  much  pomp  and  solemnity  to  Moscow,  where, 
for  a  time,  it  formed  a  part  of  the  Polytechnic  Exposition.1 

1  Pogodin,  pp.  99-142 ;  Ustrialof,  II.  i.  ;  Solovief ,  vol.  xiii. ;  Posselt,  Le- 
fort ;  Adelung,  UebersicJit  cler  Beisenden  in  Russland,  ii.  pp.  371  ft.  ;  Adelung's 
Meyerburg,  pp.  349  ff.,  St.  Petersburg,  1827;  Gordon's  Diary  ;  Russian  Laws, 
ii.  ;  Reports  of  Dutch  Residents  ;  Esipof ;   Astrof  ;  Maritime  Regulations. 


XII. 

PETER'S  MARRIAGE.— HIS  RETURN  TO  HIS  BOATS.— 1688-89. 

On  account  of  another  festival,  the  name's-day  feast  of  the 
Tsaritsa  Natalia  was  postponed  for  a  day.  After  a  religious 
service  in  the  cathedral,  the  nobility  and  the  delegates  of  the 
regiments  of  Streltsi  and  soldiers  were  admitted  to  the  palace 
to  express  their  good  wishes,  and  were  entertained  at  dinner, 
before  which  they  each  received  a  glass  of  vodka  from  the 
hand  of  the  Tsaritsa.  This  shows  that,  however  heated  might 
be  the  feelings  of  the  respective  parties  surrounding  Sophia  and 
her  brother,  the  formal  respect  due  to  the  widow  of  the  Tsar 
Alexis  was  still  preserved. 

There  was  no  use  in  Peter's  returning  to  his  boats  now  that 
winter  was  so  near,  even  had  his  mother  and  his  friends  been 
willing  to  allow  him  to  go.  He  therefore  again  turned  his  at- 
tention to  his  soldiers,  who  had  so  long  been  out  of  his  mind, 
and  from  the  demands  which  he  made  upon  General  Gordon 
and  others  for  drummers,  lifers,  and  drilled  recruits — demands 
which  were  with  difficulty  granted,  both  by  Gordon  and  Go- 
litsyn — he  was  evidently  preparing  manoeuvres  of  considerable 
importance.  Just  at  that  time  a  second  campaign  was  decreed 
against  the  Turks  and  Tartars,  and  the  Streltsi  and  regular 
soldiers  were  all  ordered  to  the  front,  in  order  to  reach  winter- 
quarters  near  the  frontier,  and  manoeuvres  on  any  large  scale 
at  Preobrazhensky  were  therefore  given  up.  The  previous 
campaign  of  Golitsyn  against  the  Tartars  had  turned  out  so 
badly  that  there  was  discontent  at  the  declaration  of  a  new  one. 
There  was  dissatisfaction  in  Moscow  with  the  rule  of  Sophia 
and  her  favourite,  and  Peter's  partisans  were  evidently  of  opin- 
ion that  it  was  time  for  him  to  take  upon  himself  the  burdens 
of  the  government,  and  that  they  were  strong  enough  to  assist 


11G 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


him.  That  there  was  high  feeling  between  the  parties  at  court 
is  shown  by  many  little  entries  in  Gordon's  diary,  though, 
usually,  he  was  careful  not  to  mention  anything  which  might 
in  any  way  compromise  himself.  But  he  says,  for  instance, 
that  he  dined  with  General  Tabort,  where  he  met  Prince 
Basil  Golitsyn  and  many  of  that  part//  •  and  a  fortnight  later 
he  tells  us  that  he  rode  back  from  Ismailovo  with  Leontius 
Xepluief,  with  whom  he  talked  at  length  about  the  secret  plots 
and  plans.  Peter  himself  added  a  little  to  the  flame  of  party 
feeling    by   unthinkingly   getting   into   conversation   with    an 

army  scribe,  who 
happened  to  be 
drunk,  and  asking 
him  many  details 
about  the  pay  and 
condition  of  the 
troops.  This  act 
was  viewed  with  dis- 
pleasure by  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Besides  the  pre- 
parations for  the 
campaign,  Golitsyn 
and  Sophia  were 
much  troubled  by 
the  position  of  af- 
fairs abroad.  There 
was  fear  lest  France, 
by  attacking  Austria,  might  compel  the  Emperor  to  make  a  sepa- 
rate peace  with  the  Turks,  and  the  question  came  up,  what  it  was 
necessary  to  do  in  such  a  conjuncture.  It  was  thought  that  the 
recent  capture  of  Belgrade  by  the  Austrians  might  induce  them 
more  readily  to  compromise  with  the  Sultan,  and  messengers 
were  therefore  sent  both  to  Vienna  and  Warsaw  to  stir  up  the  Em- 
peror, and,  in  any  case,  to  obtain  for  Russia  as  good  terms  as  pos- 
sible. A  great  deal  of  interest,  too,  was  taken  at  this  time  in 
the  affairs  of  England,  for  William  of  Orange  had  just  landed  at 
Torbay,  and  James  II.  had  fled.  But  a  short  time  before  this 
last  piece  of  news,  which  took  two  months  in  coming,  and  was 


Mohammed   IV.,   Sultan  of  Turkey. 


1688.]  FIRES   IN   MOSCOW.  117 

communicated  in  official  despatches  to  the  Dutch  Minister  and  in 
private  letters  to  General  Gordon,  the  latter  had  had  a  conversa- 
tion with  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn  at  dinner,  in  which  Golitsyn  had 
said  ;  'With  the  father  and  brother  of  your  King  we  could  get 
along  very  well,  but  with  the  present  King  it  is  perfectly  im- 
possible to  come  to  an  understanding  ;  he  is  so  immeasurably 
proud.''  Gordon  pretended  to  understand  this  as  complaining 
that  no  envoy  was  sent  to  Russia,  and  answered:  'The  King, 
as  I  believe,  on  account  of  the  troubles  in  his  own  States,  has 
not  leisure  enough  to  think  of  things  that  are  so  far  off.' 
But  Golitsyn  said,  further :  '  The  English  cannot  do  without 
Russian  products,  such  as  hides,  hemp,  PQ|§ib>  tallow,  and  tim- 
ber for  masts ; '  upon  which  Gordon  ga-ve,  aiPlie  says,  an  answer 
of  a  double  sense,  implying  that  he  'agreed  with  the  Prince. 
Gordon,  who  wras  a  zealous  Catholic,  lost  no  opportunity  of 
defending  King  James,  and  for  his  steadfast  adherence  to  the 
Stuart  cause  gained  encomiums  even  from  the  Dutch  Minister, 
at  a  dinner  given  by  him  on  King  William's  birthday. 

To  add  to  the  troubles  of  the  Government,  and  the  pre- 
vailing discontent,  Moscow  was  plagued  with  fires.  As  in  most 
Russian  towns  of  the  present  day,  the  houses  at  Moscow  were 
built  of  logs,  the  interstices  being  stuffed  with  tow,  the  roofs, 
too,  being  generally  of  wood.  The  day  following  the  name's- 
day  of  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  house  set 
apart  for  the  entertainment  of  foreign  ambassadors,  just  outside 
the  Kremlin,  which  spread  to  the  north-east  with  great  rapid- 
ity, overleaped  the  walls  of  the  Kitai-gorod  and  the  White 
Town,  crossed  the  river  Yauza  into  the  quarter  of  the  Streltsi, 
and  the  suburb  called  the  Ragoshkaya,  and  destroyed  over 
10,000  houses.  Besides  several  smaller  and  almost  daily  fires, 
there  was  one  on  September  10  in  the  Kremlin,  which  burnt 
down  all  the  priest-houses  of  the  cathedrals  and  the  roofs  of  the 
Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  Department  of  Kazan. 
On  the  night  of  the  20th,  the  stables  of  the  Patriarch  and  the 
palace  of  the  Tsars  narrowly  escaped  destruction.  On  the  27th, 
there  was  a  fire  at  Preobrazhensky,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
palace,  which  consumed  the  house  of  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn. 
On  October  11  a  fire  broke  out  near  the  Ilinsky  Gate,  which 
extended  as  far  as  the  Ustretinka,  far  beyond  the  White  Wall, 


118 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


and  burnt  a  whole  quarter  of  the  town,  including  many  public 
buildings.  This  last  tire  created  such  embarrassment  for  the 
Government  that  when,  four  days  afterward,  Gordon  went  to 
town  to  ask  for  a  hundred  roubles  of  his  pay  for  that  year,  he 
was  told  that  he  could  not  receive  it,  because  the  treasury  was 
exhausted,  so  much  money  having  been  advanced  to  all  sorts  of 

people  who  had  suffered  by 
the  great  fire,  in  order  to 
enable  them  to  rebuild  their 
houses. 

Peter  had  grown  so  tall 
and  strong  that  there  had 
long  been  a  feeling  among 
his  party  that  it  was  time  for 
him  to  marry.  To  this  not 
even  Sophia  offered  any  op- 
position ; — above  all  things 
the  succession  to  the  throne 
must  be  secured.  The  mar- 
riage of  Ivan,  which  she  had 
brought  about,  had  pro- 
duced daughters  only.  One 
of  these,  indeed,  subsequent- 
ly ascended  the  Russian 
throne  as  the  Empress  Anne, 
but  at  that  time,  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  Regent 
was  a  woman,  and  even  that  her  name  was  inserted  in  public 
acts  as  Autocrat,  it  was  still  thought  desirable  to  have  male 
heirs.  Even  as  long  ago  as  the  end  of  1685,  when  Prince 
Archil  of  Georgia  came  to  Moscow,  and  was  received  with  great 
pomp,  there  were  rumours  that  Peter  would  soon  marry  his 
beautiful  daughter.  In  December,  1087,  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn 
spent  a  few  days  with  Peter  in  the  country,  which  was  thought 
to  be  a  very  good  omen,  and  again  there  was  talk  of  Peter's 
marrying — this  time  a  relative  or  friend  of  Golitsyn.  A  month 
later,  there  was  more  talk  of  this  marriage  project,  but  the 
lady  was  not  named. 

Xow  the  plan  wras  a  more  serious  one.     The  usual  prepara- 


Eudoxia  Lopukhin,  First  Wife  of  Peter  the  Great. 


1089.]  Peter's  marriage.  119 

tions  were  made  for  collecting  at  court  young  girls  of  noble 
family,  and  out  of  these  there  was  chosen  Eudoxia,  or  Avdotia, 
Lopiikhin,  the  daughter  of  the  Okolnitchy,  Hilary  Abramovitch 
Lopiikhin,  who,  on  the  marriage,  according  to  custom,  changed 
his  name  and  received  that  of  Theodore.  The  Lopukhins  were 
a  very  good  old  Russian  family,  descended  from  the  Princes  of 
Tmiitarakan,  and  several  of  them  had  risen  to  the  dignity  of 
boyar.  In  this  generation  they  were  likewise  connected  with  the 
Ramodanofsky,  Golitsyn,  Troekiirof,  and  Kurakin  families,  and 
thus  with  the  prominent  members  of  the  aristocratic  party. 
The  bride,  who  was  three  years  older  than  Peter,1  is  said  to  have 
been  pretty,  quiet  and  modest,  brought  up  in  the  old  Russian 
way.  "We  do  not  know  whether  she  was  selected  by  Peter  him- 
self for  her  good  looks,  or  whether  his  choice  was  directed  by 
his  mother  and  his  family.  It  was  probably  thought  that  a  good, 
quiet,  stay-at-home  wife  would  be  likely  to  keep  him  at  home, 
would  put  a  stop  to  those  long  excursions  for  military  manoeuvres 
and  for  boat-building,  and,  above  all,  would  bring  to  an  end  some 
little  heart-affairs  in  the  German  quarter. 

In  this  his  family  were  partly  mistaken.  The  marriage  was 
celebrated  on  February  6,  1689,  and  two  months  were  scarcely 
over  before  Peter,  seeing  the  approach  of  spring,  could  no 
longer  resist  his  inclinations,  and  started  off  again  for  his  boat- 
building on  Lake  Plestcheief. 

On  his  arrival  at  Pereyaslavl  on  April  13  he  found  two 
boats  nearly  finished,  and,  as  if  to  welcome  him,  the  ice  broke 
up,  affording  soon  the  opportunity  of  sailing  on  the  lake.  lie 
immediately  set  to  work  with  his  carpenters  to  complete  the 
boats,  and  on  the  A*ery  day  of  his  arrival  wrote  to  his  mother : 

'  To  my  most  beloved,  and  while  bodily  life  endures  my 
dearest  little  mother,  Lady  Tsaritsa  and  Grand-Duchess  Xatalia 
Ivirilovna.  Thy  little  son,  now  here  at  work,  Petriishka, 
I  ask  thy  blessing  and  desire  to  hear  about  thy  health,  and 
we,  through  thy  prayers,  are  all  well,  and  the  lake  is  all 
got  clear  from  the  ice  to-day,  and  all  the  boats,  except  the  big 
ship,  are  finished,  only  we  are  waiting  for  ropes,  and  therefore 
I  beg  your  kindness  that  these  ropes,  seven  hundred  fathoms 

1  She  was  born  July  30,  1669. 


120  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

long,  be  sent  from  the  Artillery  Department  without  delaying, 
Bor  the  work  is  waiting  fur  them,  and  our  sojourn  here  is  being 
prolonged.  For  this  I  ask  your  blessing.  From  Pereyaslavl, 
April  20(O.  S.),  L689.' 

[nstead  of  sending  the  cables,  his  mother  wrote  to  him  to 
come  back  at  once,  as  on  May  7  there  would  be  the  requiem 
mass  in  commemoration  of  his  brother,  the  Tsar  Theodore,  and 
it  would  be  impolitic  as  well  as  indecent  for  him  not  to  be 
present.  Heart-broken  at  the  thought  of  leaving  his  boats 
when  they  were  so  nearly  ready,  he  was  at  first  inclined  to  re- 
fuse, and  wrote : 

'  To  my  most  beloved  and  dearest  mother,  Lady  Tsaritsa 
Natalia  Kirilovna,  thy  unworthy  son,  Petnishka,  I  desire  greatly 
to  know  about  thy  health ;  and  as  to  what  thou  hast  done  in 
ordering  me  to  go  to  Moscow,  I  am  ready,  only,  hey !  hey ! 
there  is  work  here,  and  the  man  you  sent  me  has  seen  it  him- 
self, and  will  explain  more  clearly ;  and  we,  through  thy 
prayers,  are  in  perfect  health.  About  my  coming  I  have  writ- 
ten more  extendedly  to  Leo  Kirilovitch,  and  he  will  report  to 
thee,  O  lady.  Therefore,  I  must  humbly  surrender  myself  to 
your  will.     Amen.' 

The  Tsaritsa  insisted,  as  did  also  his  newly-married  wife, 
who  writes : 

'  Joy  to  my  lord,  the  Tsar  Peter  Alexeivitch.  Mayst  thou 
be  well,  my  light,  for  many  years.  We  beg  thy  mercy.  Come 
to  us,  O  Lord,  without  delay,  and  I,  through  the  kindness  of  thy 
niother,  am  alive.     Thy  little  wife,  Dunka,1  petitions  this.' 

There  was  no  resisting  longer  ;  he  had  to  go.  His  mother 
and  his  wife  kept  him  a  whole  month  at  Moscow,  but  again  he 
got  away,  and  went  back  to  Pereyaslavl,  where  he  found  that 
the  shipbuilder,  Kort,  had  died  the  day  before.  He  set  to 
work  himself,  and  at  last  the  boats  were  finished,  and  he  wrote 
to  his  mother : 

'  To  my  dearest  mother,  I,  the  unworthy  Petrushka,  asking 
thy  blessing,  petition.  For  thy  message  by  the  Doctor  and 
Gabriel,  I  rejoice,  just  as  Noah  did  once  over  the  olive-branch. 
Through  thy  prayers  we  are  all  in  good  health,  and  the  boats 


1  Diinia.  Duniasha,  Dunka.  are  diminutives  of  Avdotia. 


1689.]  AT  PEREYASLAVL.  121 

have  succeeded  all  mighty  well.  For  this  may  the  Lord  grant 
thee  health,  both  in  soul  and  bod}-,  just  as  I  wish.' 

Some  time  after,  Peter's  mother  sent  the  boyar  Tikhon 
Streshnef  to  see  how  he  was  getting  on.  Peter  sent  back  by 
him  a  few  words  to  his  mother,  written,  like  all  the  preceding, 
on  a  scrap  of  dirty  paper,  with  a  trembling  hand,  evidently  still 
tired  with  the  saw  and  hatchet : — 

'  Hey !  I  wish  to  hear  about  thy  health,  and  beg  thy  bless- 
ing. "We  are  all  well :  and  about  the  boats,  I  say  again  that 
they  are  mighty  good,  and  Tikhon  Nikititch  will  tell  you  about 
all  this  himself.     Thy  unworthy  Petrus? 

The  Latin  signature,  although  the  rest  is  in  Russian,  shows 
strongly  Peter's  inclination  to  things  foreign.  In  his  stay  at 
the  lake  and  his  daily  intercourse  with  the  carpenters,  he  had 
also  made  great  progress  in  learning  Dutch. 

Another  requiem  was  to  be  said  at  Moscow.  Etiquette  re- 
quired Peter's  presence,  and  political  affairs  were  taking  such  a 
turn  that  the  Tsaritsa  insisted  on  his  coming  back.  Again  he 
abandoned  his  boats,  and  went  hastily  to  Moscow,  though  not 
so  quickly  but  that  he  was  four  days  too  late  for  the  cere- 
mony. The  members  of  the  aristocratic  party  now  made  such 
strong  representations  that  he  was  persuaded  to  remain  in  Mos- 
cow, at  first  for  a  short  time,  and  then  longer,  until  the  situa- 
tion of  affairs  had  become  such  that  an  open  rupture  between 
the  aristocratic  party  and  Sophia  was  unavoidable.  Before 
describing  the  manner  in  which  this  was  brought  about,  it  is 
necessary  to  say  something  about  the  condition  of  public  affairs 
in  the  Empire.1 


1  Pogodin,   143-149;   Ustrialof,   II.  i.  v.;  Solovief,   xiv.;  Gordon's  Diary; 
Dolgoruky,  Genealogy. 


XIII. 

THE    INTERNAL  ADMINISTRATION    OF    SOPHIA.— ARRANGEMENT 
OF   THE   DISPUTE   WITH   SWEDEN. 

The  administration  of  internal  affairs  in  Russia  by  Sophia's 
Government  need  not  long  detain  us.  The  reforms  projected 
by  Theodore  were  all  abandoned,  and  the  deputies  from  the 
provinces,  called  to  Moscow  by  him,  were  immediately  sent 
home.  There  was  so  much  to  do  in  order  to  remove  the  traces 
of  the  riots  and  disturbances  of  1682  that  there  was  no  time 
left  for  reform.  The  most  important  laws  on  the  statute  book 
are  those  relating  to  the  return  to  their  masters  of  runaway 
peasants,  to  the  disputes  connected  with  the  boundaries  of  es- 
tates, and  to  the  punishment  of  robbery  and  marauding.  Be- 
sides this,  the  Dissenters  were  everywhere  relentlessly  persecu- 
ted and  suppressed.  There  is  a  sad  old  Russian  proverb  that 
'  when  wolves  light,  sheep  lose  their  wool.'  So,  while  the  no- 
bles and  grandees  were  quarrelling  with  each  other — all  of  them 
too  strong  to  be  put  down  by  the  central  Government — the 
peasantry  and  poor  wretches  who  had  no  strong  protection  were 
suffering.  They  perhaps  might  have  complained  to  Moscow ; 
but  there  is  another  proverb  that  '  in  Moscow  business  is  not 
done  for  nothing;'  and  people  sometimes  suffered  for  their 
complaints.  The  Government  did  what  it  could,  and  some 
malefactors  were  punished  ;  but  a  special  decree  had  to  be  is- 
sued that  a  man  could  be  punished  if  he  sent  his  children  or 
his  serfs  to  commit  a  murder.  Later  on,  as  order  began  to  be 
restored,  punishments  were  somewhat  mitigated,  and  some  care 
began  to  be  taken  of  the  suffering  common  people.  Wives 
were  no  longer  to  be  buried  alive  for  the  murder  of  their  hus- 
bands, but  merely  to  have  their  heads  cut  off.  The  punishment 
of  death  was,  in  certain  cases,  commuted  to  imprisonment  for 


1682-89.]  laws  of  sophia.  123 

life,  with  hard  labour,  after  severe  whipping  with  the  knout. 
While  peasants  who  had  run  away  and  joined  the  Streltsi  regi- 
ments were  to  be  sent  back,  serf -women  who  had  married  sol- 
diers were  allowed  to  remain  free,  but  were  to  be  heavily  fined. 
Persons  who  had  been  temporarily  enslaved  for  debt  were  to 
be  no  longer  left  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  their  creditors,  but 
were  to  work  out  the  debt  at  the  rate  of  five  rubles  a  year  for  a 
man,  and  two  and  a  half  for  a  woman,  and  the  creditors  were 
no  longer  allowed  to  kill  or  maim  them.  It  was  also  forbidden 
to  exact  debts  from  the  wives  and  children  of  debtors  who  had 
died  leaving  no  property. 

Many  edicts  were  issued  with  regard  to  the  convenience  of 
the  inhabitants  of  Moscow  itself,  in  respect  to  Sunday  trading, 
to  indiscriminate  peddling  and  hawking  in  the  streets,  to  put- 
ting up  booths  in  unauthorised  places,  for  the  better  preven- 
tion of  fires,  and  the  like.  People  were  forbidden  to  stop  and 
talk  in  the  middle  of  the  roadway,  and  were  ordered  to  keep  to 
the  right  side.  It  was  forbidden  to  drive  at  full  speed  through 
the  streets  in  a  manner  which  is  still  frequently  seen  both  in  Mos- 
cow and  St.  Petersburg,  and  is  always  adopted  by  the  heads  of 
the  police  department — that  is,  with  a  trotting  horse  drawing  the 
vehicle  and  a  galloping  horse  harnessed  loosely  at  the  side.  It 
was  forbidden  to  beat  the  crowd  right  and  left  to  make  one's  pas- 
sage through  it.  It  was  forbidden  to  fire  guns  or  pistols  in  the 
houses  or  out  of  the  windows.  It  was  forbidden  to  throw  filth 
and  manure  into  the  streets.  An  edict  beginning  like  the  follow- 
ing might  seem  strange,  were  it  not  that  the  strictest  regulations 
had  to  be  made  to  keep  order  within  the  palace  itself  : — 

'  Chamberlains,  lords  in  waiting,  nobles  of  Moscow,  and  gen- 
tlemen of  the  guard  !  At  present  your  servants  station  them- 
selves in  the  Kremlin  with  their  horses  in  places  not  allowed, 
without  any  order,  cry  out,  make  noise  and  confusion,  and  come 
to  fisticuffs,  and  do  not  allow  passers-by  to  go  on  their  road,  but 
crowd  against  them,  knock  them  down,  trample  them  under  foot 
and  whistle  over  them  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  captains  of  the  watch 
and  the  Streltsi  try  to  send  them  away  from  the  places  where 
they  have  no  right,  and  prevent  them  from  crying  out  and  from 
ill-doing,  these  servants  of  yours  swear  at  and  abuse  the  cap- 
tains and  Streltsi,  and  threaten  to  beat  them.' 


124  PETER   THE    GREAT. 

The  foreign  relations  of  Russia  at  this  period  demand  a  little 
longer  explanation. 

In  the  earlj  times,  the  dominion  of  Russia  extended  to  the 
Gulf  of  Finland,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  territory  now  in- 
cluded in  the  province  of  St.  Petersburg  was  Russian.  Extend- 
ing along  the  shore  of  the  Gulf,  from  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Narova  on  the  southern  to  that  of  the  Sestra  on  the  northern 
side,  it  included  most  of  the  territory  watered  by  the  Vuoksa, 
the  Neva,  the  Izhore,  the  Tosna,  and  the  Luga,  and  formed 
one  of  the  old  Fifths  of  Great  Novgorod,  under  the  name  of  the 
Vodska  Fifth  of  the  land  of  Izhore.  In  this  district  were  some 
of  the  very  earliest  Russian  settlements,  such  as  Karelia,  Ladoga, 
and  the  fortress  of  Ivangorod,  constructed  opposite  Narva,  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Narova,  by  Ivan  III.  In  early  times  there 
were  many  contests  with  the  Swedes,  and  one  of  the  most  fa- 
moits  victories  in  early  Russian  history  is  that  gained,  in  1242, 
by  the  Grand  Duke  Alexander  Yaroshivitch  against  the  Swedes 
on  the  banks  of  the  Neva,  which  gave  him  the  surname  of 
JVevski/,  and  which  led  to  his  being  made  a  saint  in  the  Russian 
calendar.  By  the  treaty  of  Oriekhovo,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  the  boundaries  between  Russian  and  Swed- 
ish Finland  were  the  rivers  Sestra  and  Vuoksa.  In  spite  of 
subsequent  wars  with  Sweden,  this  boundary  remained  un- 
changed until  the  Troublous  Times,  in  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  when,  in  order  to  secure  his  predominance 
over  his  rivals,  the  Tsar  Basil  Shiii'sky  called  the  Swedes  to  his 
assistance,  and,  as  a  recompense  for  a  corps  of  five  thousand 
men,  ceded  the  town  and  territory  of  Karelia,  or  Kexholm,  on 
the  western  shore  of  Lake  Ladoga.  The  Swedish  troops  at  first 
rendered  considerable  assistance  to  the  Russians  against  the 
pretender ;  but  when  the  Russians  had  been  defeated  in  a  de- 
cisive battle  with  the  Poles  at  Kliishino,  they  abandoned  their 
allies,  went  over  to  the  enemy,  and  seized  the  town  of  Novgo- 
rod. They  easily  took  possession  of  the  Vodska  Fifth,  and  all 
the  efforts  of  the  newly-elected  Tsar,  Michael  Romanof,  to  drive 
them  out  were  futile.  Peace  was  finally  brought  about,  at 
Stolbovo,  in  1617,  through  the  mediation  of  Dutch  and  English 
ambassadors,  one  of  whom  was  Sir  John  Merrick.  England  and 
Holland  were  desirous  of  retaining  Northern  Russia  for  their 


1617.]  DISPUTES    WITH    SWEDEN".  125 

trade,  and  were  unwilling  to  see  it  pass  into  Swedish  hands. 
British  interests  were  at  stake  here.  Michael  had  to  yield  to 
circumstances.  lie  received  back  Novgorod,  Ladoga,  and  other 
districts ;  but  was  obliged  to  give  up  to  the  Swedes  the  fortresses 
of  Ivangorod  and  Oreshek — now  Schllisselburg — and  the  whole 
course  of  the  Neva,  and  pay,  in  addition,  20,000  rubles,  or  what 
would  be  at  the  present  time  more  than  $200,000.  "What  was 
perhaps  still  harder,  the  Tsar  had  to  give  up  one  of  his  titles, 
and  allow  the  Swedish  king  to  style  himself  ruler,  of  the  land  of 
Izhore. 

In  the  reign  of  Alexis,  efforts  were  made  to  gain  access  to 
the  Baltic,  from  which  the  Russians  had  been  cut  off,  by  taking 
the  town  of  Riga,  which  belonged  to  the  Swedes.  Embarrass- 
ed, however,  by  a  war  with  Poland,  x\.lexis  was  unable  properly 
to  support  this  war.  His  troops  were  unsuccessful,  and  he  was 
compelled,  by  the  treaty  of  Kardis,  to  reaffirm  all  the  conditions 
of  the  hated  treaty  of  Stolbovo.  It  was  the  custom  at  that  time 
for  a  Tsar,  on  ascending  the  throne,  to  confirm  all  the  treaties 
executed  by  his  predecessors.  Theodore  refused  to  confirm  the 
treaty  of  Kardis,  without  some  concessions.  He  had  his  griev- 
ance against  the  Swedes — that  they  had  in  official  documents 
refused  to  speak  of  the  Tsar  as  Tsar,  but  had  called  him  simply 
Grand  Duke  of  Muscovy,  and  the  subject  of  title  was  one  about 
which  all  the  Russian  rulers  were  very  sensitive.  Besides  that, 
the  Orthodox  Church  had  been  subjected  to  persecution  in  the 
lands  under  Swedish  rule.  The  ambassadors  of  Theodore  there- 
fore demanded  that,  as  a  recompense  for  these  insults,  the  land 
of  Izhore,  which  had  been  unjustly  seized  by  the  Swedes  during 
the  reign  of  his  grandfather,  should  be  returned  to  Russia.  To 
such  a  proposition  King  Charles  XL  refused  to  listen.  Xego- 
tiations  continued  at  intervals,  and  Theodore  died  without  the 
treaty  of  Kardis  being  reaffirmed. 

The  policy  of  Sophia  was  in  direct  opposition  to  that  of  the 
two  previous  reigns,  and  was  a  far  more  healthy  one.  Both 
Alexis  and  Theodore  had  revolted  at  the  idea  of  acquiescing  in 
the  permanent  alienation  of  any  portion  of  Russian  territory. 
Their  patriotism  and  their  love  of  national  honour  made  them 
feel  that  every  effort  should  be  used  to  recover  to  Russia  those 
provinces  which  had  been  torn  from  it.     They,  therefore,  were 


s 


126  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

unwilling  either  to  make  treaties  recognising  the  Swedish  claims 
or  to  keep  them  when  they  were  made.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed 
that  Sophia  or  her  counsellors  were  less  patriotic  than  their  pre- 
decessors, but  they  felt  the  necessity  of  reorganising  the  Em- 
pire, of  improving  its  internal  condition,  and  of  establishing 
good  government  on  a  firm  basis,  before  attempting  to  recover 
the  lost  provinces.  In  fact,  Sophia  acted  much  as  the  French 
Government  has  acted  since  the  war  of  1870.  She  desired  to 
devote  herself  to  internal  administration,  and  to  the  formation 
of  an  army,  before  engaging  in  a  struggle  with  her  neighbours. 
As  soon,  therefore,  as  Ivan  had  been  proclaimed  Tsar,  the 
Government  hastened  to  put  an  end  to  any  designs  of  its  neigh- 
bours, who  had  already  got  wind  of  the  rioting  of  the  Streltsi, 
and  the  troubles  consequent  on  the  death  of  Theodore.  Couriers 
were  sent  to  Stockholm,  Warsaw,  Vienna,  and  even  to  Copen- 
hagen, the  Hague,  London,  and  Constantinople,  to  announce 
the  death  of  Theodore,  the  accession  of  the  new  sovereigns 
Ivan  and  Peter,  and  the  speedy  arrival  of  plenipotentiaries  for 
the  purpose  of  affirming  existing  treaties.  Immediately  after- 
ward, in  October,  1683,  an  embassy  was  sent  to  Stockholm,  con- 
sisting of  the  Okolnitchy  and  Lord-Lieutenant  of  Tcheboksary, 
Ivan  Prontchistchef,  the  Chamberlain  and  Lord-Lieutenant  of 
Borofsk,  Peter  Prontchistchef,  and  the  Secretary  Basil  Bobinin. 
with  a  letter  from  the  Tsars  completely  affirming  the  Treaty  of 
Kardis,  and  practically  giving  up  all  claims  to  the  ancient  pos- 
sessions of  Eussia  on  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  Charles  XL,  as  may 
easily  be  believed,  received  this  embassy  with  great  pleasure, 
and  with  all  due  ceremony  he  took  the  oath  on  the  Holy  Gospel 
to  fulfil  the  treaty  exactly  and  honourably.  He  dismissed  the 
ambassadors  with  the  usual  presents,  and  entrusted  to  them  an 
autograph  letter  to  the  Tsars,  stating  that  he  would  not  delay 
sending  his  plenipotentaries  to  Moscow  to  renew  the  peace  in 
the  usual  form  by  the  oaths  of  their  Tsarish  Majesties.  The 
Prussian  ambassadors  returned  to  Moscow,  in  January,  1684,  and 
three  months  later  the  Swedish  ambassadors  arrived — the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Eoyal  Council,  Conrad  Gildenstjern,  the  Councillor 
of  the  Eoyal  Chancery,  Jonas  Klingstedt,  and  the  Livonian 
nobleman,  Otto  Stackelberg.  The  nobles  living  on  their  country 
estates  for  150  miles  about  Moscow  were  ordered  to  meet  the 


1084. j  SWEDISH   EMBASSY.  127 

embassy,  and  the  Regent  appointed  a  commission  to  discuss 
matters,  under  the  presidency  of  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  in- 
cluding among  others  the  Okoln  itchy  Buturlin,  and  the  Privy- 
Councillor  Ukraintsef.  Apparently  as  a  matter  of  form,  the 
commission  thought  it  necessary  to  make  certain  representations 
to  the  Swedes  which  were  entirely  unexpected  by  them.  These 
consisted  chiefly  in  complaints  about  matters  of  etiquette,  in 
which  it  was  said  the  Swedish  Government  had  not  acted  prop- 
erly ;  that  they  had  purposely  refused  to  the  Tsars  the  title  of 
Tsarish  Majesty,  and  had  spoken  of  them  in  the  Treaty  of 
Westphalia  simply  as  Grand  Dukes  of  Muscovy,  and  that  they 
had  permitted  the  publication  of  various  libels  and  pasquils,  as 
well  as  false  reports  about  occurrences  in  the  Russian  Empire, 
especially  with  regard  to  the  rebellion  of  Stenka  Razin.  The 
Swedes  answered  these  complaints  with  very  little  trouble,  ex- 
pressed their  perfect  willingness  to  call  the  Tsars  by  any  name 
they  pleased  ;  and  at  a  second  conference,  a  week  later,  managed 
to  raise  on  their  side  some  points  of  disagreement,  such  as  that 
the  name  of  the  King  of  Sweden  had  been  written  '  Carlus,'  and 
not  'Carolus,'  expressing,  at  the  same  time,  a  desire  that  the 
Russians  should  enter  into  an  alliance  with  Poland  and  the 
German  Empire  against  the  Turks,  that  the  boundaries  between 
Sweden  and  Russia  should  be  exactly  defined,  and  that,  in 
future,  resident  ministers  should  be  kept  at  the  Swedish  court, 
to  avoid  disputes.  At  this  meeting  the  Russians  said  nothing 
more  about  their  former  complaints,  agreed  to  the  Swedish  de- 
mands, with  the  exception  of  that  concerning  the  treaty  of  al- 
liance with  Poland,  and  finally  expressed  the  readiness  of  the 
Tsars  to  take  the  customary  oath  in  confirmation  of  the  Treaty 
of  Kardis. 

After  the  protocol  had  been  duly  signed,  the  ambassadors 
were  invited  to  the  Palace  to  be  witnesses  of  the  solemn  con- 
firmation of  the  treaty  by  the  oaths  of  the  two  Tsars.  They 
were  driven  in  the  Imperial  carriages  to  the  ambassadorial  office, 
where,  in  the  Chamber  of  Responses,  they  were  received  by 
Prince  Golitsyn.  Afterward  they  were  conducted  by  Privy- 
Councillor  Ukraintsef,  between  lines  of  Streltsi,  up  the  Red 
Staircase,  and  then,  passing  through  files  of  guards  armed  with 
partisans  and  halberds,  were  introduced  into  the  banqueting- 


128  PETER   TUP:   ©BEAT. 

hall,  where  the  hoy  Tsars,  clad  in  all  the  paraphernalia  of  roy- 
alty, sat  on  their  double  throne,  supported  on  either  side  by 
rhmds  or  guards  of  honour,  handsome  and  stately  youths  of 
noble  blood,  clad  in  white  satin  and  cloth-of -silver,  and  carrying 
halberds.  The  boyars  and  state  officials  sat  on  benches  along 
the  wall.  The  Tsars,  through  Prince  Golitsyn,  asked  the  usual 
questions  about  the  healths  of  the  ambassadors,  for  which  they 
returned  thanks,  and  then  sat  down  on  a  bench  placed  opposite 
the  throne.  Some  moments  after,  the  Tsars  personally  asked 
about  the  King's  health,  and,  on  a  sign  from  Prince  Golitsyn, 
read  a  speech,  in  which  they  declared  their  unchangeable  inten- 
tion of  carrying  out  all  the  articles  of  the  treaty.  After  the 
speech  they  ordered  the  ambassadors  to  come  near  to  them,  and 
the  priests  to  bring  the  Gospels,  while  Prince  Golitsyn  placed 
on  the  desk  under  the  Gospel  the  protocols  confirming  the  treaty. 
The  Tsars  then  rose  from  their  places,  took  off  their  crowns, 
which  they  gave  to  great  nobles  to  hold,  advanced  to  the  desk 
and  said  that,  before  the  Holy  Gospel,  they  promised  sacredly 
to  keep  to  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  according  to  the  proto- 
cols. In  conclusion  they  kissed  the  Gospels,  and  Prince  Golitsyn 
handed  the  paper  to  the  ambassadors  and  allowed  them  to  de- 
part. 

The  same  day  the  ambassadors  had  a  farewell  audience  of 
the  Princess  Sophia,  who  received  them  in  the  Golden  Hall. 
On  coming  out  of  the  banqueting-hall,  they  advanced  down  the 
private  staircase  to  the  Palace  Square,  then  through  lines  of  the 
Stremenoy  regiment,  armed  with  gilded  pikes,  passed  the  guards 
carrying  halberds,  to  the  Golden  Entrance,  where  the  suite  stop- 
ped, while  the  ambassadors  advanced.  At  the  door  they  were 
met  by  two  chamberlains,  who  announced  to  them  that  the 
great  lady,  the  noble  Tsarevna,  the  Grand  Duchess  Sophia  Alex- 
eievna,  Imperial  Highness  of  all  Great  and  Little  and  White  Rus- 
sia, was  in  readiness  to  meet  them.  The  ambassadors  bowed,  and 
entered  the  room.  The  Princess  Pegent  sat  on  a  throne  orna- 
mented with  diamonds — a  present  from  the  Shah  of  Persia  to 
her  father,  Alexis.  She  wore  a  crown  of  pearls,  and  a  robe  of 
silver  cloth  embroidered  with  gold,  edged  and  lined  with  sables, 
and  covered  with  folds  of  fine  lace.  On  each  side  of  her,  at  a 
little  distance,  stood  two  widows  of  boyars,  and  further  off  two 


1684.J  RECEPTION   BY   SOPHIA.  129 

female  dwarfs.  Around  the  room  stood  chamberlains  and  a 
few  boyars.  Prince  Basil  Grolitsyn  and  Ivan  Miloslavsky  stood 
near  the  Princess  Regent.  The  ambassadors  were  announced 
by  Ukraintsef,  and  gave  the  salutation  from  the  King  and 
Queen,  and  the  Queen  Dowager.  The  Princess,  rising,  asked 
about  their  health  in  these  words:  'The  most  powerful  Lord 
Carolns,  King  of  Sweden,  and  her  Royal  Highness,  his  mother, 
the  Lady  Iledwig  Elenora,  and  his  consort,  the  Lady  Ulrica 
Elenora,  are  they  well '. '  After  listening  to  the  usual  reply, 
she  beckoned  the  ambassadors  to  approach  her,  and  after  they 
had  kissed  her  hand  she  asked  about  their  health.  The  ambas- 
sadors thanked  her,  and  sat  down  on  a  bench.  Then  the  gen- 
tlemen of  the  ambassadorial  suite  were  called  up  and  admitted 
to  hand-kissing.  Finally,  the  Princess  requested  the  ambassa- 
dors to  congratulate  the  King  and  Queen,  and  dismissed  them, 
sending  them  subsequently  a  dinner  from  her  own  table.1 


1  Russian  Laws,  ii. ;  Solovief,  xiv.  ;  Ustruilof ,  I.  v.  ;  Aristof . 
Vol.  1.— 9 


XIV. 

ETERNAL    PEACE   WITH   POLAND.  —  THE   METROPOLIS   OF   KfEF. 

M  i(ii  more  important  to  settle  than  the  dispute  with  Sweden 
was  the  dispute  with  Poland,  and  complicated  with  this  was  the 
question  of  Little  Russia,  which  brought,  in  its  turn,  the  ques- 
tion of  war  with  the  Turks.  The  Tsar  Alexis,  as  we  remember, 
in  accepting  the  suzerainty  over  Little  Russia,  broke  with  the 
Poles ;  and  his  first  successes  made  him  desirous  of  restoring 
t<>  his  empire  all  those  parts  of  Russia  which  entered  into 
the  principality  of  Lithuania.  lie  conquered  them  rapidly,  one 
after  another,  declared  their  union  with  Russia,  and  took  the 
title  of  Grand  Duke  of  White  Russia,  of  Lithuania,  and  of 
Podolia  and  Yolynia.  The  obstinate  struggles  between  the 
Poles  and  Russia  lasted  twelve  years,  and,  in  spite  of  the  do- 
mestic difficulties  of  both  nations,  would  probably  have  lasted 
longer,  had  not  the  Ottoman  Porte  interfered,  in  the  hope  of 
gaining  possession  of  Little  Russia.  Both  countries  were  threat- 
ened by  this  attempt  of  the  Sultan,  whose  might  then  terrified 
all  Europe,  and  they  hastened  to  make  peace.  But  as  it  was 
impossible  to  agree  on  all  points,  they  made,  at  Andrussova, 
in  1067,  a  truce  for  twelve  years,  on  condition  that  at  stated 
intervals  envoys  should  be  sent  to  the  frontier  to  endeavour  to 
negotiate  a  permanent  and  substantial  peace;  and  that  if  these 
overtures  failed,  recourse  should  be  had  to  the  mediation  of 
the  Christian  powers.  By  this  truce  the  Russian  Tsar  gave  up 
his  claim  to  Lithuania,  "White  Russia.  Yolynia,  and  Podolia, 
ami  all  the  territory  on  the  western  side  of  the  Dnieper,  with 
the  exceptiou  of  the  ancient  town  of  Kief,  which,  in  view  of  the 
progress  of  the  Turks,  he  was  allowed  to  retain  for  two  years, 
in  order  to  save  its  sacred  shrine  from  Mussulman  profanation. 


1607.]  TRUCE   OF   ANDRUSSOVA.  131 

binding  himself  to  return  it  to  Poland  at  the  end  of  that 
period.  In  return  for  this  concession  the  rights  of  the  Tsar 
were  made  good  to  Smolensk  and  its  surrounding  district,  the 
region  of  Seversk,  and  the  Ukraine  east  of  the  Dnieper.  The 
country  of  the  Zaporoghi  Cossacks,  or  '  beyond  the  cataracts '  (of 
the  Dnieper),  which  served  as  a  mutual  barrier  against  the  Turks 
and  Tartars,  was  declared  common  property.  Besides  this, 
Alexis  promised  to  send  an  army  of  25,000  men  for  the  defence 
of  Poland  against  the  Turks,  promised  to  attempt  the  subjuga- 
tion of  the  Crimea,  and  to  pay  about  200,000  rubles  to  indem- 
nify the  Polish  nobility  for  their  property  in  the  district  ceded 
to  Russia.  It  was  also  agreed  that  neither  side  should  make  a 
separate  peace  with  the  Turkish  Sultan,  or  with  the  Crimean 
Khan.  The  first  commission  which  met  in  consequence  of  this 
treaty,  in  1669,  was  unable  to  effect  a  peace,  and  could  only 
agree  in  confirming  in  every  point  and  particular  the  Truce  of 
Andriissova.  But  the  Russians  found  it  difficult  to  decide  to 
give  up  Kief,  as  they  were  obliged  to  do  at  this  time,  and 
brought  various  complaints  against  Poland,  for  which  they 
wished  satisfaction  and  indemnity.  Rather,  however,  than  en- 
gage in  a  new  war,  both  sides  agreed  simply  to  put  off  all  the 
questions  until  the  meeting  of  the  next  commission  in  1671. 
The  meeting  of  1671  was  fruitless,  as  was  also  that  of  the 
final  commission  which  sat  in  Moscow  in  167S,  in  the  reign  of 
the  Tsar  Theodore.  The  plenipotentiaries  could  once  more 
agree  only  to  leave  matters  in  statu  quo  until  the  end  of  the 
latest  term  fixed  by  the  Truce  of  Andriissova,  June,  1693 — that 
is,  for  fifteen  years  longer.  Nevertheless,  the  Tsar,  alarmed 
by  the  threat  of  the  Polish  ambassadors,  and  fearing  to  break 
off  all  relations,  returned  to  the  King  the  districts  of  ]STevl, 
Sebezh,  and  Yelizh,  which  had  been  granted  to  Russia  by  the 
Treaty  of  Andriissova,  and  paid  the  indemnity  of  200,000 
rubles,  as  agreed  upon.  All  other  questions  were  postponed 
until  a  new  commission  had  been  appointed,  to  meet  in  two 
years  from  that  time  with  mediators.  This  commission  never 
met.  Matters  got  more  complicated,  partly  because,  in  spite  of 
the  treaties,  first  Poland,  and  then  Russia,  concluded  a  separate 
peace  with  the  Turks. 

As  soon  as  Ivan  and  Peter  were  crowned,  their  Government 


132 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


sent  an  embassy  t<»  Warsaw  to  confirm  the  treaty  of  Andriis- 
sova  and  receive  the  usual  oath  for  its  fulfilment.  As  soon  as 
King  Jan  Sobieski  heard  of  this  embassy,  he  sent  to  Warsaw  to 
ask  if  the  ambassadors  had  full  power  to  treat  on  the  points  in 
dispute,  which  had  been  left  by  the  Commission  of  1678,  es- 
pecially with  regard  to  the  surrender  of  Kief  and  the  sending  of 
a  corps  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  for  use  against  the  Turks. 
The  ambassadors  had  come  without  full  powers  to  this  effect, 
and  the  King  in  consequence  refused  to  take  the  oath  to  the 
treaty,  and  sent  a  special  messenger  to  Moscow  to  insist  upon 

some  arrangement 
being  made.  Mean- 
while Sobieski  per- 
suaded the  Polish 
Diet  to  agree  to  the 
conclusion  of  a  treaty 
of  alliance  with  the 
German  Empire  ; 
for  the  rebellion  of 
Emmeric  Tekeli  had 
caused  an  invasion 
of  the  Turks,  and 
the  overthrow  of 
Austria  would  be,  in 
Sobieski's  opinion, 
of  the  utmost  danger 
to  Poland.  The 
treaty  of  alliance 
was  concluded  in  May,  1683,  both  sovereigns  agreeing  to  the  use 
of  their  influence  to  induce  other  Christian  princes  to  join  the 
alliance,  and  especially  the  Tsars  of  Muscovy.  For  this  purpose 
Sobieski  proposed  to  Russia  to  send  new  plenipotentiaries  to  the 
old  meeting-place  of  Andrussova,  in  order  to  conclude  a  lasting- 
alliance.  The  Russians  consented  to  the  commission,  and  neg<  >tia- 
ti«  »ns  began  in  January,  1684,  at  Andrussova.  The  ( Commission- 
ers— thirty-nine  in  number — met,  but  could  not  decide  anything. 
The  Poles  refused  to  give  up  their  claim  to  Kief,  and  the  Rus- 
sians could  not  give  their  consent  to  assist  them  against  the 
Turks.     Even   the  victory  of  Sobieski  over  the  Turks  before 


Jan  Sobieski,  King  of   Poland. 


16S4.]  NEW   NEGOTIATIONS.  VS'S 

Vienna,  in  September,  1683,  could  not  persuade  the  Government 
of  Sophia  that  war  was  better  than  peace,  although  it  made  it 
waver.  The  importance  of  this  victory,  and  of  the  deliverance 
of  Vienna  from  the  Turks,  was  not  under-estimated  at  Moscow, 
where  it  was  celebrated  by  Te  Deums  in  the  churches  and  the 
ringing  of  bells.  Prince  Golitsyn  had  asked  the  opinion  of 
General  Gordon,  who  had  seen  twenty  years'  service  in  Russia. 
most  of  it  against  the  Poles  and  the  Tartars.  Gordon,  in  a 
carefully- written  paper,  considered  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages, both  of  peace  and  war,  and  finally  concluded  in  favour 
of  war,  and  an  alliance  with  Poland.  Golitsyn,  however,  was 
too  undecided,  or  had  too  little  confidence  in  the  good  intentions 
of  Poland  and  Austria  for  him  to  resolve  on  an  alliance,  and 
the  Commission  of  Andriissova,  as  has  been  already  said,  had 
no  result. 

In  the  spring  of  1684  the  Republic  of  Venice  entered,  with 
Austria  and  Poland,  into  a  Holy  Alliance  against  the  Turks,  of 
which  Pope  Innocent  XL  was  formally  pronounced  the  patron. 
All  parties  agreed  to  bring  their  influence  to  bear  on  Russia  to 
join  them.  Although  this  new  crusade  against  the  Turks  was 
the  great  object  of  the  foreign  policy  of  Innocent  XL,  and  is 
regarded  as  one  of  the  great  glories  of  his  pontificate,  yet  this 
was  not  the  first  time  that  Rome  had  used  all  its  influence  at 
Moscow  for  the  furtherance  of  this  object.  The  predecessors  of 
Innocent,  Clement  IX.  and  Clement  X.,  had  this  matter  warmly 
at  heart,  and  did  their  best  to  excite  the  Russians  to  join  their 
neighbours  against  Turkey.  The  despatches  to  the  Vatican  of 
the  nuncios  at  Warsaw  and  Vienna  are  full  of  information  as  to 
the  negotiations.  In  166S,  Clement  XL  even  began  a  corre- 
spondence — which  was  kept  up  for  years — with  the  Shah  of 
Persia,  in  which  he  warmly  and  affectionately  urged  that  Mus- 
sulman monarch  to  join  the  Christian  league  against  Constanti- 
nople. Meanwhile,  France  and  Sweden  were  intriguing  at  Con- 
stantinople against  Austria  and  the  Emperor,  and  stirring  up 
rebellion  in  Hungary.  The  dry  texts  of  despatches  and  docu- 
ments are,  in  this  case,  wonderfully  instructive,  for  they  prove 
that  the  first  wars  of  Russia  against  Turkey  were  caused,  not  by 
Muscovite  ambition,  but  by  the  constant  urging  of  the  Pope 
and  the  Catholic  powers. 


134 


l'ETEIl   THE    GKEAT. 


Iii  pursuance  of  the  agreement  with  Poland  and  Venice,  in 
the  Bpring  of  L684,  the  imperial  ambassadors,  Baron  Blumberg 
and  Barou  Scherowski,  had  brought,  besides  theirformal  letter-, 
a  persona]  one  from  the  Emperor  to  Golitsyn,  requesting  him 
to  use  hisinfluence  for  the  alliance.     Golitsyn thanked  the  Em- 


Pope  Innocent  XI. 

peror  for  his  great  condescension  and  kindness,  and  promised  to 
use  all  his  powers  for  the  benefit  of  Christianity,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  declared  to  the  ambassadors  that  Russia  would  enter 
into  no  engagement  of  the  kind  desired  until  permanent  peace 
had  been  concluded  with  Poland.1 

1  A  curious  and  very  rare  pamphlet,  printed  in  1084,  entitled  Besehreibung 
des  Schau-  und  lesewHrdigen  Moscowitsischen  Eimugs  und  Tractemen'ts.  et<\. 
gives  an  account  of  the  embassy  of  Baron  Blumberg,  and,  in  addition,  a  copy 


1080.]  POLISH   EMBASSY.  135 

Meanwhile,  although  Austria  and  Venice  were  successful  in 
their  efforts  against  Turkey,  good  fortune  seemed  to  abandon 
Sobieski.  hi  the  summer  of  1684,  he  was  engaged  in  an  un- 
successful siege  of  Kamenetz,  in  Podolia,  and  afterward,  in 
1685,  not  being  himself  able  to  accompany  the  army,  on  account 
of  illness,  he  sent  the  Hetman  Jablonowski  into  Moldavia,  hop- 
ing, by  occupying  that  province,  to  cut  Podolia  off  from  Tur- 
key and  force  Kamenetz  to  surrender.  Jablonowski  crossed  the 
Dniester  and  advanced  into  Moldavia,  but  was  signally  defeated 
by  the  Turks,  and  obliged  to  retreat  with  great  loss.  These 
failures  caused  the  Polish  king  to  renew  the  negotiations  for  an 
alliance  with  .Russia,  and  in  January,  1686,  there  arrived  in 
Moscow  from  Poland  the  most  splendid  embassy  which  that 
city  had  ever  witnessed.  There  were  four  ambassadors,  at  the 
head  of  which  were  the  Voievode  Grimultowski  and  Prince 
Oginski,  the  Chancellor  of  Lithuania,  with  a  suite  of  about  a 
thousand  men  and  fifteen  hundred  horses.  The  ambassadors 
were  splendidly  received ;  they  were  met  everywhere  by  the 
Russian  nobility  and  their  retainers ;  they  were  escorted  into 
Moscow  and  through  the  crowded  streets  by  the  Streltsi,  and  by 
the  famous  'winged  guard,'  or  Zh'dtsi '  •  they  were  feasted  and 
entertained.  But  the  Russian  negotiators,  under  the  guidance 
of  Prince  Golitsyn,  disputed  for  seven  long  weeks  over  the 
conditions  of  the  peace.  The  Poles  agreed  to  give  up  Kief,  but 
would  not  consent  to  the  surrender  of  the  adjoining  territory, 
demanded  too  great  a  sum  as  indemnity,  and  were  unable  to 
come  to  an  understanding  with  regard  to  the  promise  of  military 
assistance  to  be  furnished  by  Russia  to  Poland.  The  ambassa- 
dors finally  declared  the  negotiations  broken  off,  and  took  their 
formal  leave  of  the  Tsars  and  Sophia ;  yet  they  did  not  depart, 
but  requested  a  renewal  of  negotiations.     By  this  time,  the  in- 

of  the  speech  which  he  made  to  the  Tsars  on  his  final  audience,  in  which  he 
describes  Turkey  as  the  '  sick  man  ' — a  term  supposed  to  have  been  invented 
by  the  Russian  diplomacy  of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  '  Now,'  he  says,  '  is 
the  most  suitable  time  for  obtaining  the  desired  end.  Sweden  is  in  a  condi- 
tion of  perfect  peace ;  Poland ,  in  consequence  of  the  truce  which  has  been 
concluded,  is  quiet  and  without  danger  to  you  ;  the  diseased  and  dying  Otto- 
man Empire  and  its  complete  powerlessness — for  it  is  only  a  body  condemned 
to  death,  which  must  very  speedily  turn  to  a  corpse — are  the  auguries  for  a 
complete  solution  of  the  question,'  &c.,  &c. 


136  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

terchange  of  views  was  earned  on  entirely  by  writing,  and  finally 
an  arrangement  was  arrived  at  by  which  Poland  ceded  for  ever 
Kief  to  Russia,  and  the  Tsar,  agreeing  to  declare  war  against 
the  Sultan  of  Turkey  and  the  Khan  of  the  Crimea,  promised 
immediately  to  send  troops  to  protect  the  Polish  possessions 
from  Tartar  invasion,  and  in  the  next  year  to  send  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  Crimea  itself.  Both  powers  agreed  not  to  con- 
clude a  separate  peace  with  the  Sultan.  Besides  this,  it  Mas 
arranged  that  Bussia,  as  an  indemnity  for  Kief,  should  pay 
Poland  UG,000  rubles  ($280,000).  A  considerable  amount  of 
territory  was  given  up  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Dnieper,  to- 
gether with  Kief;  and  Tchigirin  and  the  other  ruined  towns 
on  the  lower  course  of  the  Dnieper  were  not  to  be  rebuilt. 
Persons  of  the  Orthodox  faith  in  the  Polish  dominions  were  t<> 
be  subjected  to  no  kind  of  persecution  on  the  part  of  the  Cath- 
olics and  Uniates,  and  were  to  be  allowed  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  ;  while  in  Russia  Catholics  were  to  be  allowed  t<  > 
hold  divine  service  in  their  houses,  although  they  could  build 
no  churches.  The  boyar  Boris  Sheremetief,  and  the  Okol- 
nitchy  Tchaadaef  were  sent  to  Lemberg  to  obtain  the  oath  and 
the  signature  of  King  Jan  Sobieski  to  the  treaty,  but  were 
obliged  to  wait  two  months  for  him.  That  year  the  King  had 
himself  headed  an  invasion  of  Moldavia,  and  had  occupied  Jassy, 
but  being  surrounded  by  hosts  of  Tartars,  and  his  troops  being- 
stricken  with  disease  and  almost  famished,  he  had  been  obliged 
to  retreat.  Saddened  by  his  military  disasters,  Sobieski  was 
still  more  grieved  over  the  cession  of  Kief ;  and  although  he 
received  the  ambassadors  with  due  honours,  and  gave  his  solemn 
oath  to  the  treaty,  yet  tears  ran  from  his  eyes  as  he  pronounced 
it.  lie  could  not  even  conceal  his  vexation  in  a  letter  which  he 
wrote  to  the  Tsars  of  Bussia,  complaining  of  their  inaction. 

Sophia  and  her  Government  considered  this  treaty  to  be  the 
greatest  act  of  their  regency.  In  the  proclamation  announcing 
it  to  the  people,  she  said  that  Bussia  had  never  concluded  such 
an  advantageous  and  splendid  peace.  In  one  sense  this  was 
true.  The  acknowledgment  by  Poland  of  the  right  of  Bussia 
t<»  Kief  was  very  satisfactory  to  the  pride  of  Bussia,  and  fraught 
with  great  advantage.  It  was  an  advantage,  too,  to  be  on  terms 
of  solid  amity  with  such  an  uneasy  neighbour  as  Poland.     The 


1685.]  METROPOLIS    OF    KIKF.  187 

disadvantages  caused  bv  the  ensuing  declaration  of  war  against 
Turkey  were  not  mentioned  in  the  proclamation  ;  and,  although 
they  were  great,  they  were,  in  point  of  fact,  outweighed  by  the 
advantages  of  the  treaty. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  political  union  of  Kief  to  Russia 
was  thus  assured,  a  religious  union  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
western  provinces  and  of  the  Ukraine  to  the  provincial  throne 
of  Moscow  was  also  provided  for.  Originally  Kief  had  been 
subjected  to  the  metropolis  of  Moscow,  but,  in  the  fifteenth 
century,  in  order  more  completely  to  separate  the  inhabitants 
<>f  these  provinces  from  their  co-religionists  in  Russia,  the 
Prince  of  Lithuania  succeeded  in  establishing  at  Ivief  an  inde- 
pendent Metropolitan,  consecrated  by  the  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople. When  the  Cossacks  of  Bogdan  Ivhmelnitzky  accepted 
the  Russian  suzerainty,  it  was  stated  in  the  treaty  that  the  Met- 
ropolitan of  Ivief  should  be  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Patri- 
arch of  Moscow  ;  but  neither  the  Metropolitan  of  Kief  at  that 
time  nor  his  successor  were  willing  to  accept  the  diplomas  from 
the  Tsars  without  the  permission  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople, lest  they  should  bring  upon  themselves  the  curse  of  the 
Eastern  Church,  and  continued  to  style  themselves  Exarchs  of 
the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  Owing  to  these  difficulties, 
since  1676  there  had  been  no  Metropolitan,  and  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  the  country  were  under  the  supervision  of  Lazarus 
Baranovitch,  the  aged  Archbishop  of  Tchernigof,  who  admitted 
the  supremacy  of  the  Patriarch  of  Moscow.  Negotiations  for 
the  election  of  a  new  Metropolitan,  and  his  subjection  to  the 
Patriarch  of  Moscow,  began  in  1683  with  Samoilovitch,  the 
Hetman  of  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine,  who  entered  warmly 
into  the  project  and  succeeded  in  bringing  affairs  to  a  conclu- 
sion. Much  as  he  opposed  the  treaty  of  alliance  with  Poland, 
he  was  strongly  in  favour  of  the  union  with  Moscow  of  the 
Metropolis  of  Kief,  for  he  felt  that  this  union  would  bind  the 
inhabitants  of  Little  Russia  still  more  closely  to  Great  Russia, 
sever  their  connection  with  Poland,  and  at  the  same  time  give 
the  Russian  Government,  through  the  Metropolitan,  a  certain 
amount  of  influence  over  all  the  Orthodox  Christians  residing  in 
the  Polish  dominions.  He  made,  however,  several  reservations 
and  conditions,  the  chief  of  which  were — that  all   the  ancient 


IBS  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

rights  and  liberties  of  the  provinces  should  remain  untouched; 
that  the  Metropolitan  of  Kief  should  occupy  the  first  rank 
among  the  Metropolitans  of  liussia;  that  lie  should  still  have 
the  title  of  Exarch  of  Constantinople;  that  the  Patriarch  of 
( lonstantinople  should  properly  cede  the  province  to  the  Patri- 
arch of  Moscow,  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  schism  or  con- 
fusion in  the  minds  of  the  Little  Russians  ;  that  the  Patriarch 
should  not  interfere  or  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  the  province  ; 
that  the  printing  of  books  should  be  allowed  at  the  Lavra  of 
Kief ;  and  that  a  school  for  free  sciences  in  the  Latin  and  Greek 
languages  should  be  allowed  in  the  Bratsky  Monastery,  as  be- 
fore. These  demands  were  all  allowed,  with  the  exception  of 
that  asking  for  the  Metropolitan  the  title  of  Exarch  of  the  Pa- 
triarch of  Constantinople,  as  this  was  thought  to  be  contradictory 
and  useless.  Orders  for  the  election  of  a  Metropolitan  of  Kief 
were  then  issued,  and  although  at  first  there  was  some  difficulty 
in  persuading  the  clergy  that  they  could  safely  venture  on  the 
election  without  running  the  risk  of  the  curse  of  the  Patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  as  his  permission  had  not  yet  been  obtained 
— and,  indeed,  had  not  even  been  asked — yet,  under  the  skilful 
guidance  of  Lazarus  Baranovitch,  the  assemblage  elected  as 
Metropolitan  Prince  Gideon  Sviatopolk-Tchetvertinsky,  the 
Archbishop  of  Lutzk,  who  had  been  obliged  to  leave  Poland  on 
account  of  the  oppression  which  he  suffered  at  the  hands  of  the 
Catholics  and  Uniates,  and  had  taken  refuge  in  the  Monastery 
of  Baturin,  the  capital  of  Little  Russia  and  the  residence  of  the 
Hetman.  Prince  Gideon — for  the  title  of  prince,  in  conformity 
to  the  Polish  custom,  had  been  left  to  him — went  to  Moscow, 
and  was  duly  consecrated,  on  November  8,  1685,  by  Joachim, 
the  Patriarch  of  Moscow,  although  no  answer  had  yet  been  re- 
ceived from  Constantinople.  The  Archbishop  of  Tchernigof, 
and  Yasinsky,  the  Archimandrite  of  the  Lavra  of  Kief,  refused 
to  acknowledge  Gideon  as  their  superior,  as  they  had  for  many 
years  been  subject  only  to  the  supremacy  of  the  Patriarch  of 
Moscow.  A  compromise  was  made,  and  their  claims  to  be  in- 
dependent of  the  new  Metropolitan  were  allowed  during  the 
lives  of  the  actual  incumbents. 

At  the  end  of  1084,  a  Greek,  Zachariah  of   Sophia,  had 
been  sent  to  the  Patriarch  Jacob  of  Constantinople,  to  obtain 


1685.]  METROPOLIS   OF   KIEF.  139 

his  consent  to  a  change  in  the  supremacy  of  the  Metropolis,  but 
the  Patriarch,  had  replied  that  the  times  were  so  troublous  with 
the  Church  in  Turkey  that  it  was  impossible  to  do  anything. 
The  Grand  Vizier  was  on  the  point  of  death,  and  no  one  knew 
who  would  take  his  place.  After  the  consecration  of  Gideon,  a 
Government  secretary,  ISTikita  Alexeief,  was  sent  to  Adrianople, 
where  the  Sultan  was  then  living,  partly  to  complain  to  the 
Sultan  about  his  calling  the  people  from  the  eastern  to  the 
western  bank  of  the  Dnieper,  and  partly  to  arrange  with  the 
Patriarch  about  the  Metropolis  of  Kief.  Alexeief,  and  Lisitsa, 
who  were  sent  by  the  Hetman,  received  information  from  the 
Patriarch  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  do  anything  until 
he  had  the  consent  of  the  Grand  Vizier,  as  it  would  be  neces- 
sary to  call  together  the  Metropolitans,  some  of  whom  disliked 
him  and  would  be  sure  to  report  to  the  Grand  Vizier  that  he 
was  in  treaty  with  the  Muscovites,  and  he  would  then  be  at 
once  executed.  Alexeief  then  tried  to  get  an  interview  with 
Dositheus,  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who  was  at  that  time  in 
Adrianople,  making  collections  of  money,  but  Dositheus  refused 
to  see  Alexeief  until  he  had  had  an  interview  with  the  Grand 
Vizier.  Alexeief,  after  seeing  the  Grand  Vizier,  was  per- 
mitted to  see  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  but  could  not  succeed 
in  making  him  agree  to  the  Russian  proposals.  lie  at  first 
positively  refused,  basing  his  objections  partly  on  rules  of 
Church  discipline  and  partly  on  the  want  of  respect  that  had 
been  manifested  by  the  election  and  consecration  of  the  Metro- 
politan without  the  consent  of  the  Eastern  Church ;  said  that  it 
was  a  division  of  the  Church ;  that  he  would  never  consent  to 
it,  and  would  oppose  it  by  every  means  in  his  power.  Alexeief 
tried  to  explain  that  the  distance  of  Little  Russia  from  Constan- 
tinople made  the  relations  with  that  Patriarch  a  matter  of 
difficulty,  and  that,  as  Little  Russia  was  now  united  with  Great 
Russia,  the  good  of  all  the  Christians  there  demanded  religious 
union.  He  was,  however,  able  to  effect  nothing  with  Dositheus, 
who  said  it  was  impossible  to  do  anything  without  the  Grand 
Vizier.  Alexeief  was  not  inclined  to  have  the  Mussulmans 
mixed  up  in  the  matter.  Having  learned  that  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  had  been  overthrown  by  an  intrigue,  and  that 
Dionysius,  the  previous  Patriarch,  had  again  ascended  the  throne, 


140  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

and  \vas  about  going  to  the  Porte  to  receive  his  herat,  lie  went 
to  the  Grand  Vizier,  and  explained  to  him  the  desire  of  the 
Tsars  with  regard  to  the  Metropolis  of  Kief.  The  Turks,  who 
were  threatened  by  war  on  three  sides  and  wished  to  keep  the 
peace  with  Moscow,  Mere  willing  not  only  to  satisfy  the  Rus- 
sian complaints  with  regard  to  the  emigration  of  the  people 
from  the  eastern  to  the  western  bank  of  the  Dnieper,  but  to 
free  the  Russian  prisoners ;  and  the  Grand  Vizier  promised  to 
send  for  the  Patriarch  on  his  arrival,  and  order  him  to  comply 
with  the  wishes  of  the  Tsars.  Alexeief  then  returned  to 
Dositheus,  the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  found  a  total  change 
in  his  sentiments.  Dositheus  said  he  had  succeeded  in  finding 
a  rule — which,  it  appeared,  had  escaped  his  memory — by  which 
an  archbishop  could  pass  over  a  portion  of  his  eparchy  to 
another  archbishop,  and  promised  to  advise  the  Patriarch 
Dionysius  to  comply  with  the  Russian  requests.  Furthermore, 
he  himself  wrote  to  the  Tsars,  and  he  gave  the  Patriarch  of 
Moscow  his  blessing,  not  together  with  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, but  alone.  Dionysius,  the  neM'  Patriarch  of  Constan- 
tinople, made  not  the  slightest  objection,  and  promised  that 
as  soon  as  he  returned  to  Constantinople  and  had  assembled 
his  Metropolitans,  he  would  give  all  the  necessary  document.-. 
The  Grand  Vizier  told  Alexeief  that  he  had  heard  of  the  efforts 
of  the  Poles  to  induce  Russia  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
them,  begged  him  to  express  to  the  Tsars  the  hope  and  wish  of 
the  Sultan  that  this  would  not  be  done,  and  that  they  would 
always  remain,  as  before,  in  the  increased  love  and  friendship 
of  the  Sultan ;  and,  furthermore,  alloM-ed  Alexeief  to  rebuild 
in  Constantinople  the  church  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  which 
had  recently  been  burnt  down.  This  Alexeief  had  asked  as  an 
act  of  kindness  to  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  for,  accord- 
ing to  Turkish  laM;,  M'hile  service  could  be  freely  carried  on  in 
the  existing  Christian  churches,  no  new  ones  were  allowed  to  be 
built,  nor  were  old  ones  accidentally  destroyed  or  ruined  allowed 
t<»  be  rebuilt;  mosques  were  erected  in  their  place.  On  arriv- 
ing at  Constantinople,  Alexeief  received  all  the  necessary 
documents  from  the  Patriarch,  presented  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople with  200  ducats  and  three  'forties'  of  sables,  and 
the  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem  with  200  ducats,  and  was  requested 


1685.]  METROPOLIS    OF    KIEF.  141 

by  them  to  ask  the  Tsars  for  presents  for  all  the  archbishops 
who  had  signed  the  document,  as  similar  presents  had  been 
given  when  the  Metropolitan  of  Moscow  took  the  title  of 
Patriarch.1 

1  This  history  of  the  re-union  of  Kief  reminds  one  strongly  of  the  recent 
history  of  the  formation  of  an  independent  Bulgarian  Church.  Solovicf,  xiv.  ; 
Ustrialof,  I.  vi. ,  vii.  ;  Theiuer,  Monuments  Historigues,  Rome,  1809. 


XV. 

EMBASSIES  TO  VIENNA  AND  PARIS.— 1687. 

Russia  accepted  in  all  seriousness  and  lost  no  time  in  carry- 
ing out  one  part  of  the  treaty  of  Eternal  Peace  with  Poland,  in 
endeavouring  to  induce  the  Christian  powers  of  Europe  to  join 
them  in  a  struggle  against  the  Turks.     Boris  Sheremetief  and 

Do  D 

Ivan  Tchaadaef,  who  took  the  treaty  to  King  John  Sobieski  for 
his  ratification,  headed  an  embassy  to  Vienna,  to  prevail  upon 
the  Emperor  Leopold  to  join  the  Russian-Polish  alliance.  In 
the  negotiations  which  took  place  at  Vienna,  the  Russian  am- 
bassadors set  forth  their  treaty  with  Poland,  their  ancient  friend- 
ship with  Austria,  the  campaign  which  they  had  made  against 
the  Tartars  in  the  previous  year,  which,  without  bringing  any 
particular  benefit  to  themselves,  had  kept  the  Tartars  from 
Poland,  and  had  left  the  hands  of  the  Austrians  and  Venetians 
free,  and  which  had,  in  reality,  been  in  part  the  cause  of  their 
successes  against  the  Turks.  For  this  they  now  asked  nothing 
more  than  that  the  Emperor  should  become  a  member  of  their 
league,  that  the  title  of  '  Majesty,1  and  not '  Serenity,'  should  be 
given  to  the  Tsars  by  the  Imperial  Court,  and  that  the  ambas- 
sadors should  receive  their  letters  of  farewell  from  the  hand  of 
His  Majesty,  and  not  from  the  Chancellor.  On  being  asked 
what  princes  they  intended  to  invite  to  join  this  league,  they 
replied:  'The  greatest  among  the  Christians:  the  King  of 
France,  the  King  of  England,  the  King  of  Denmark,  the  Elec- 
tor of  Brandenburg ;  and  they  also  intended  to  send  an  embassy 
to  the  King  of  France  and  to  the  Duke  of  Baden.'  One  of  the 
Austrian  negotiators  replied  that  the  Russians  might  do  this  if 
they  thought  it  best,  but  that  His  Imperial  Majesty  had  suf- 
ficient allies  to  ruin  the  Turk :  the  Holy  Father,  the  King  of 
Spain,  the  King  of  Sweden,  the  King  of  Poland,  the  Republics 


1687.]  EMBASSY  TO   VIENNA.  143 

of  Venice  and  Holland,  the  Electors  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria, 
and,  in  a  word,  all  the  Empire,  which  was  capable  enough  of 
destroying  the  Ottoman  if  they  went  at  it  in  good  faith  and 
with  vigour.  To  the  application  for  the  title  of  'Majesty,'  and 
the  threat  to  sever  friendly  relations  until  it  should  be  given, 
they  were  told  to  say  nothing  more  about  it,  or  they  would  be 
sent  away,  but  that  the  Emperor  would  grant  the  other  points, 
would  receive  from  their  hands  the  letters  from  the  Tsars,  and 
would  give  them  letters  from  his  own  hand,  on.  condition  that 
the  Tsars  would  grant  in  their  domains  entire  liberty  to  the 
Catholic  religion.  To  this  the  Russian  ambassadors  replied 
that  they  had  no  instructions  on  this  point ;  that  it  was  as  much 
as  their  heads  were  worth  to  listen  to  any  propositions  which 
would  change  the  established  order  of  things  in  Muscovy ;  that 
there  could  be  no  public  exercise  of  other  religions,  but  that 
Mass  could  be  said  in  private  houses,  and  private  schools  could 
be  established,  and  that  the  Tsars  would  protect  the  Catholic 
religion  as  well  as  all  others  as  soon  as  quiet  should  be  re-estab- 
lished. The  Austrians  said  that  if  this  was  so,  the  Emperor 
would  give  them  a  reply  by  his  own  hand.  At  the  last  con- 
ference there  was  another  of  the  interminable  disputes  about 
title,  and  the  Austrian  Commissioners  blamed  the  ambassadors 
for  having,  in  the  letter  of  credence,  translated  the  Russian 
word  for  '  autocrat '  by  the  Latin  word  imperator,  and  not  domi- 
■nator,  as  they  claimed  it  should  be.  After  a  full  explanation  of 
the  three  titles  of  the  Russian  Tsar,  the  great,  the  medium,  and 
the  small,  the  Austrians  agreed  to  what  they  considered  a  con- 
siderable concession  in  granting  that  letters  and  decrees  given 
by  the  chanceries  and  signed  by  the  secretaries  should  give  the 
Tsars  the  title  of  Majesty,  but  that  in  letters  signed  by  his  own 
hand  the  Emperor  would  not  confer  this  title,  as  he  gave  it  to 
no  one.  So  great  was  the  fear  of  the  ambassadors  at  having 
overstepped  their  powers  that  at  this  conference  they  gave 
back  the  protocols  and  note  which  they  had  received,  signed  by 
the  Secretary  of  the  Chancellor,  saying  that  they  did  not  wish 
them  ;  whereupon  they  were  told  that  the  substance  of  the 
negotiations  would  be  inserted  in  the  letter  of  re-credence. 
They  begged  that  no  details  should  be  mentioned  in  this  letter, 
as  it  was  not  customary,  and  especially  urged  that  nothing 


144  PETEK   THE   GREAT. 

should  be  said  <>n  the  head  of  religion,  as  itrnight  do  them  harm 
at  home.  Nevertheless,  they  were  forced  t<>  take  a  protocol 
signed  by  the  Secretary,  under  the  threat  of  being  sent  back 
without  any  letter  of  reply.  The  tenor  of  this  was  that,  as  the 
Russians  had  desired  that  they  should  be  treated  like  the  other 
Christian  princes.  His  Imperial  Majesty  wished  the  Tsars,  in 
future,  when  they  sent  embassies,  to  pay  their  expenses,  offering 
to  do  the  same  when  he  despatched  embassies  to  Russia.  The 
A.ustrians,  it  seemed,  claimed  that  their  last  ambassador,  Baron 
Scherowski,  did  not  receive  carts  for  the  transportation  of  the 
presents  to  the  Tsars,  and  had.  been  obliged  to  keep  at  his  own 
expense  those  which  he  had  hired  in  Poland. 

This  was  the  first  attempt  to  put  Russian  embassies  on  a 
footing  with  those  of  other  powers.  Up  to  that  time  they  had 
been  treated  in  the  Oriental  manner — that  is,  the  expenses  of  for- 
eign embassies  sent  to  Russia  had  been  defrayed  by  the  Russian 
Government,  and,  in  a  similar  way,  the  cost  of  Russian  embas- 
sies abroad  had  been  paid  by  the  powers  to  whom  they  were 
sent.  The  total  expenses  of  the  Russian  embassy  to  Vienna  were 
about  one  hundred  thousand  florins,  including  the  presents  ;  but 
the  presents  to  the  ambassadors  were  reduced  from  thirty  thou- 
sand florins,  as  originally  proposed,  to  fourteen  thousand  florins, 
with  presents  amounting  to  two  thousand  tlorins  more  for  the 
secretaries.  The  reason  of  this  was,  that  it  was  reported  to  the 
Imperial  Government  that  the  Tsars  had  sent  as  presents  furs 
to  the  amount  of  thirty  thousand  florins,  while  those  the  am- 
bassadors had  actually  given  were  worth  only  five  or  six  thou- 
sand florins.  The  conduct,  too,  of  the  ambassadors  and  of  their 
numerous  suite — many  of  whom  -were  frequently  drunk  and 
made  disturbances  in  the  street — and  the  numerous  complaints 
brought  against  them,  made  the  Austrian  Government  anxious 
to  get  rid  of  them  as  soon  as  possible.  After  finishing  their 
negotiations  and  having  an  interview  with  Prince  Lubomirsky, 
the  Grand  Marshal  of  Poland,  who  had  just  come  from  Rome, 
they  were  invited  to  the  Imperial  hunt  at  Aspem,  and  received 
by  the  Empress,  who  had  just  recovered  from  her  confinement, 
and  were  then  granted  a  farewell  audience  by  the  Emperor.  In 
a  letter  which  the  Emperor  handed  them  he  said  that-  he  had 
learned  with  much  joy  of  the  resolution  of  the  Tsars  to  make 


TI1E    RUSSIAN   AMBASSADORS  AND  THE    FRENCH    POLICE   OFFICIALS. 


1687.]  EMBASSY   TO   VIENNA.  145 

war  against  the  common  enemy  of  the  Christian  name,  as  well 
as  of  their  treaty  with  Poland;  that  there  was  no  need  to  make 
any  special  treaty  between  Austria  and  Russia : — w  For,'  he 
added,  '  the  treaty  that  your  Serenities  have  just  concluded  with 
Poland  is  also  sufficient  to  keep  us  in  the  same  alliance,  and 
when  we  shall  come  to  the  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Turks  we 
will  inform  you  through  the  King  of  Poland  or  by  letter.  With 
regard  to  the  title  of  "  Majesty,"  the  ambassadors  to  your  Se- 
renities will  inform  yon  that  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  our  Imperial 
Majest}^  to  give  it,  since  there  has  been  no  example  that  we 
have  given  it  to  any  other  power.  Nevertheless,  to  show  your 
Serenities  our  fraternal  friendship  and  cordiality,  we  have  willed 
that  our  ministers  and  officers  should  give  you  the  title  of 
tk  Majesty,"  and  we  have  received  at  the  audience  of  leave  your 
ambassadors,  and  given  our  letters  from  our  Imperial  hand, 
which  we  shall  do  in  future  to  all  the  ambassadors  and  envoys 
who  shall  come  from  your  Serenities.  This  is  on  the  condition, 
however,  that  your  Serenities  shall  take  under  your  protection 
the  Catholic  and  Roman  religion  which  we  profess,  and,  although 
we  have  spoken  about  it  to  your  ambassadors  in  several  confer- 
ences, they  have  always  protested  their  unwillingness  to  hear  of 
it.  Nevertheless,  we  find  ourselves  obliged  to  say  to  your  Ser- 
enities that  what  we  shall  do  in  this  matter  according  to  our  Im- 
perial good  pleasure  shall  be  of  no  value  in  case  your  Serenities 
are  unwilling  to  protect  the  Catholic  and  Roman  religion — a 
case  which,  we  think,  will  never  arise,  on  account  of  your  great 
and  fraternal  friendship.' 

Volkof,  one  of  the  mission,  went  from  Vienna  to  Venice 
with  similar  instructions.  Through  the  kindness  of  the  Austrian 
Government,  he  was  provided  with  letters  of  introduction  from 
the  Emperor  to  the  Chevalier  Cornaro. 

The  same  year,  Prince  Jacob  Dolgoniky  and  Prince  Jacob 
Myshetsky  were  sent  on  an  embassy  to  Holland,  France  and 
Spain. 

The  choice  of  ambassadors  seems  to  have  been  unfortunate, 
for  none  of  them  spoke  any  other  language  than  Russian,  and 
they  were  unacquainted  with  the  ways  or  even  the  manners  of 
diplomacy.  In  Holland  they  were  well  received,  and  sent  from 
there  a  courier  to  announce  their  arrival  at  Paris.  Owing  to 
Vol.  I.— 10 


]4C>  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

ignorance  of  usage,  the  courier  refused  to  deliver  the  letter  with 
which  he  was  charged  to  anyone  but  the  King  in  person.  As 
he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  communicate  it  to  the  Minister  of 
Foreign  Alt  airs,  his  request  for  an  audience  was  refused,  and 
he  was  sent  Lack  without  the  actual  contents  of  the  letter  being 
known.  Xews,  however,  of  the  approaching  embassy  had  been 
received  by  the  Court  of  Versailles  from  its  agents  in  Holland. 
When  the  Russian  ambassadors  reached  Dunkirk,  they  were 
met  by  31.  de  Torff,  a  gentleman  in  ordinary  of  the  King's 
household,  who  wras  sent  to  compliment  them,  and  to  ascertain 
the  object  of  their  mission.  They  promised  De  Torff  that  they 
would  fully  explain  the  objects  of  their  mission  to  Monseigneur 
de  Croissy,  the  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs,  before  demand- 
ing audience  of  the  King,  and  promised  further  that  they  would 
in  all  respects  conform  to  the  royal  washes.  jSTot  satisfied  with 
verbal  promises,  De  Torff  insisted  that  they  should  put  them 
in  writing,  and,  at  their  dictation,  he  wTrote  a  letter  to  that  effect, 
which  was  signed  by  them,  and  which  he  sent  to  Versailles. 
On  the  return  of  the  courier  the  embassy  set  out  for  Paris  (on 
July  22),  in  carriages  sent  from  the  court.  All  their  luggage 
was  sealed  at  the  Custom  House,  and  was  not  to  be  opened 
until  they  reached  Paris.  It  was  fully  explained  to  the  ambas- 
sadors that  there  it  would  be  examined  and  passed,  and  that 
in  the  meantime  the  royal  seals  must  not  be  touched.  In  spite 
of  this,  and  of  their  promise  to  comply  with  the  royal  wishes, 
they  broke  the  seals  of  their  luggage  at  St.  Denis,  where 
they  exposed  for  sale  the  articles  they  brought  with  them. 
'  Their  house  was  thronged  with  merchants,  and  they  made  a 
public  commerce  of  their  stuffs  and  furs,  forgetting,  so  tosj^eak, 
their  dignity  as  ambassadors,  that  they  might  act  as  retail  mer- 
chants, preferring  their  profit  and  private  interests  to  the  hon- 
our of  their  masters.'  De  Torff  managed  to  put  a  stop  to  this 
proceeding,  and  the  ambassadors  formally  entered  Paris  in  a 
great  procession,  on  August  9,  and  three  days  afterwards  had 
their  first  audience  of  the  King  at  Versailles.  In  Paris  there 
was  another  difficulty.  The  ambassadors  refused  to  allow  their 
luggage  to  be  examined  by  the  customs  officers ;  locksmiths 
were  brought,  and  a  police  official,  sent  by  the  provost,  under- 
took to  search  the  luggage.     He  was  reviled  and  insulted,  and 


1687.]  EMBASSY    TO    FRANCE.  147 

one  of  the  ambassadors  actually  drew  a  knife  upon  him.  The 
affair  was  at  once  reported  to  the  King,  who  sent  to  the  am- 
bassadors the  presents  he  had  intended  for  the  Tsars,  and  or- 
dered them  to  leave  the  country  at  once  ;  but  the  ambassadors 
refused  to  accept  the  presents  without  an  audience  of  the  King. 
Louis  XIV.,  indignant  at  this,  sent  back  to  the  ambassadors  the 
presents  they  had  brought  him  from  the  Tsars,  and  again  or- 
dered them  to  leave.  They  refused  to  budge,  and  De  Torff 
was  obliged  to  take  all  the  furniture  out  of  the  house  in  which 
they  were  living,  and  forbid  them  anything  to  eat.  Next  day 
the  ambassadors  were  brought  by  hunger  and  discomfort  to  a 
sense  of  their  position,  and  begged  De  Torff  to  intercede  for 
them ;  for  they  feared,  they  said,  that  if  the  King  should  re- 
fuse the  presents,  or  if  they  should  go  away  without  an  audience 
of  leave,  they  would  lose  their  heads  on  their  return  to  Moscow. 
They  even  consented  to  allow  their  luggage  to  be  examined,  and 
to  conduct  negotiations  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and 
not  with  the  King  personally,  which  they  had  previously  re- 
fused to  do.  Not  receiving  a  favourable  answer,  they  started, 
and  it  was  not  until  they  had  reached  St.  Denis,  where  De 
Torff  made  a  little  delay — though  he  sent  on  the  luggage  to 
show  that  no  long  stay  must  be  thought  of — that  the  affair  was 
arranged.  The  luggage  was  at  last  examined,  the  ambassadors 
had  a  political  interview  with  Monseigneur  de  Croissy,  in  which 
they  explained  the  object  of  their  mission,  and  two  days  after- 
wards had  a  parting  audience  of  King  Louis  XIV.,  dined  at 
court,  and  were  shown  the  gardens  and  fountains  of  Versailles. 
By  this  time  they  had  become  so  pleased  with  France  that  they 
did  not  wish  to  leave  on  the  day  fixed,  and  used  every  pretext 
to  prolong  their  stay.  They  finally  departed  from  St.  Denis  on 
September  10,  and  reached  Havre,  with  the  speed  of  those  times, 
in  four  days.  Here,  after  a  few  days'  detention  from  bad 
weather,  they  were  put  on  board  a  French  man-of-war,  which 
was  to  take  them  to  Spain,  for,  on  account  of  the  difficulties 
they  had  caused,  permission  was  refused  them  to  go  overland. 
Before  they  sailed,  De  Torff  made  a  request,  in  the  name  of  the 
King,  that  thenceforth  the  Tsars  should  pay  the  expenses  of 
their  own  embassies.  The  King  promised  to  do  the  same.  To 
please  the  ambassadors,  the  request  was  put  into  writing. 


148  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

This  proposal,  like  the  similar  one  made  at  Vienna,  aimed 
at  the  assimilation  of  Russian  embassies  to  those  of  European 
powers,  and  at  the  abolition  of  the  Oriental  method  of  mutual 
entertainment.  No  more  Russian  embassies  came  to  France 
for  a  long  time,  and  the  matter  seems  to  have  been  so  far  for- 
gotten that  no  specific  instructions  on  this  subject  were  given 
to  the  French  agents  in  Moscow.  At  last  M.  de  Baluze,  the 
French  minister  at  Moscow,  writes  to  the  King  in  August.  1T<»4. 
complaining  that  the  hundred  rubles  (about  four  hundred  French 
livres)  which  he  received  weekly  from  the  Tsar's  treasury,  Mas 
not  regularly  paid,  and  saying  that  he  thought  he  had  aright  to 
this  money,  as  Russian  embassies  to  France  were  paid  for  by  the 
King.  In  the  preliminary  examination  given  to  all  despatches  at 
the  Foreign  Office,  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  has  run  his 
pencil  though  this  passage,  with  the  remark  '  skip,'  addressed  to 
the  Secretary  whose  duty  it  was  to  read  it  aloud  to  the  King. 

"With  regard  to  the  commerce  which  the  embassy  appeared 
to  have  carried  on  in  St.  Denis  and  Paris,  it  must  be  said  that, 
owing  to  the  very  bad  financial  system  prevailing  in  Pussia,  the 
salary  of  ambassadors  was  chiefly  paid  in  furs,  which  they  were 
to  dispose  of  as  they  could,  and  unless  they  were  allowed  to  sell 
them  they  might  be  unprovided  with  current  funds.  The  history 
of  this  embassy  is  as  important  as  it  is  curious,  because  the  am- 
bassadors, on  their  return,  presented  false  reports  to  the  Tsars 
as  to  the  treatment  which  they  had  undergone.  Those  reports 
produced  a  strong  impression  at  Moscow,  and  brought  about 
great  coolness,  almost  hostility,  in  the  relations  between  the 
two  countries.  It  was  some  time  before  the  reason  of  this  was 
ascertained  at  Paris.  "When  it  became  known,  a  memorandum, 
giving  a  true  account  of  what  had  passed,  was  sent  to  the  French 
Residents  in  Poland  and  Germany. 

The  sum  and  substance  of  the  conference  at  St.  Denis  was 
this  :  The  ambassadors  began  by  saying  that  Russia  had  made 
a  league  with  Poland  against  the  Turks,  and  they  had  come  on 
behalf  of  their  masters  to  His  Majesty,  as  the  greatest  Prince 
in  the  world,  to  beg  him  to  enter  into  this  league,  and  to  join 
his  arms  with  theirs  for  the  glory  of  the  Christian  name.  De 
Croissy  replied  that  His  Majesty  had  much  friendship  for  the 
Tsars,  and  had   always  approved   and   still  approved  of  their 


1687.]  EMBASSY   TO    FRANCE.  149 

turning  their  arms  against  the  Turks ;  that  lie  had  also  heard 
with  pleasure  of  the  treaty  of  alliance  which  they  had  concluded 
with  Poland  ;  that  he  had  made  known  on  several  occasions  the 
sincerity  of  his  intention  for  the  glory  of  the  Christian  name ; 
that  in  reality  he  ought  to  go  to  war  against  the  Emperor  of 
Germany  on  his  sister-in-law's  account,  in  view  of  the  oppression 
she  had  suffered  in  the  Palatinate,  but  that  he  abstained  because 
he  did  not  wish  to  trouble  the  prosperity  of  the  Christian  arms, 
lie  could  not  declare  war  against  Turkey  without  reason,  for 
he  had  recently  renewed  the  capitulations,  and,  besides,  a  war 
would  injure  the  commerce  of  his  subjects  in  the  East,  and.  on 
account  of  the  great  distance,  would  be  too  expensive.  The 
ambassadors  replied  that  the  Tsars  had  also  been  at  peace  with 
the  Turks  when  they  declared  war  against  them,  and  that,  in 
acting  for  the  glory  of  Jesus  Christ,  one  ought  not  to  have  re- 
gard for  treaties ;  that  they  had  not  hesitated  on  that  score  to 
attack  the  Turk.  As  far  as  commerce  was  concerned,  that  could 
be  carried  on  equally  well,  and  possibly  much  better,  with  the 
successors  of  the  Turks — the  Christian  nations  of  the  East. 
But  still,  if  the  King  wrould  not  enter  the  league,  they  hoped  at 
least  he  would  not  trouble  the  prosperity  of  their  arms  by  a 
declaration  of  war.  De  Croissy  answered  :  '  The  King  has  no 
wish  to  disturb  the  Christians  in  their  enterprise.  Tell  the 
Tsars  that,  so  long  as  the  allied  princes  do  not  give  to  His  Maj- 
esty legitimate  cause  for  complaint,  he  will  always  be  very  o-lad 
to  see  them  continue  to  employ  their  arms  in  putting  down  the 
Infidels.''  The  ambassadors  then  set  forth  to  the  minister  the 
great  advantage  wThich  would  accrue  to  France  by  entering  into 
commerce  with  the  Russians  by  way  of  Archangel,  and  promised 
French  traders  all  the  advantages  then  enjoyed  by  the  English 
and  the  Dutch.  This  De  Croissy  said  he  would  take  into  con- 
sideration, and  then  suggested  that,  as  the  King  of  France  sent 
missionaries  to  China,  and  learned  that  caravans  for  Pekin  left 
Tobolsk,  the  capital  of  Siberia,  every  six  months,  he  would  be 
glad  if  the  Tsars  would  permit  the  passage  through  Siberia, 
with  these  caravans,  of  Jesuits  and  other  missionaries,  as  the 
last-named  journey  was  much  easier  than  that  by  the  sea.  The 
ambassadors  said  they  had  no  power  to  consent  to  this,  but 
thought  that  no  difficulty  would  be  raised. 


L50  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

At  that  time  there  was  prevalent  at  Moscow  a  sort  of  sus- 
picion of  everything  French,  and  sensible  as  the  Dutch  Resi- 
dent was,  he  was  afflicted  with  this  disease,  and  saw  everywhere 
French  intrigues.  It  was  plain  to  him  that  the  Danish  Resi- 
dent, Von  Horn,  was  acting  in  the  interests,  if  not  in  the  pay,  of 
Louis  XIV.  He  calls  him,  in  one  of  his  despatches,  'a  better 
Turk  than  Christian ' ;  and  in  another  he  says :  '  He  makes  such 
a  show,  and  spends  so  much  money,  that  it  must  necessarily 
come  out  of  some  other  purse  than  his  own.'  He  even  discov- 
ered a  Frenchman  in  the  Danish  suite.  He  believed,  and  ap- 
parently succeeded  in  making  the  Russians  believe,  that  Yon 
Horn  had  come  to  Moscow  for  the  purpose  of  putting  a  stop  to 
a  good  understanding  between  Sweden  and  Russia.  It  also 
seemed  plain  to  the  Dutch  Resident  that  the  French  had  in- 
trigued at  Constantinople  to  incite  the  Turks  to  make  war  on 
Austria  and  invade  Hungary,  and  that  they  intrigued,  both  at 
Warsaw  and  at  Vienna,  to  prevent  the  triple  alliance.  It  was  for 
the  interest  of  France  that  Austria  and  the  Empire  should  be 
humbled,  and  for  that  purpose  it  seemed  to  him  natural  that 
France  should  not  desire  Russia  to  enter  into  an  alliance  with 
Austria,  or  Sweden  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with  its  neighbour. 

The  negotiations,  therefore,  at  Moscow  were  not  always 
easy  matters,  and  from  time  to  time  persons  came  there  who 
were  really  nothing  but  adventurers,  but  to  whom  a  fictitious 
importance  was  given,  either  from  then  own  braggart  airs  or 
from  the  suspicion  that  they  were  French  spies.  Among  these 
was  a  man  calling  himself  sometimes  M.  de  Sanis,  sometimes 
Comte  de  Sanis,  sometimes  Sheikh  Alibeg,  but  always  a  relative 
of  the  Shah  of  Persia,  and  a  brother-in-law  of  the  renowned 
traveller  Ta vernier.  He  made  out  that  he  had  been  baptised, 
and  therefore  could  not  at  once  go  back  to  Persia,  but  at  the 
same  time  he  would  set  forth  his  great  importance  in  that  coun- 
try, and  wrote,  or  pretended  to  write,  frequent  letters  to  the 
Shah — at  least  some  drafts  of  letters  were  subsequently  found 
among  his  effects.  He  came  with  a  certain  amount  of  money, 
he  spent  more,  and  borrowed  besides.  He  gave  entertainments 
at  which  the  grandees  and  the  most  notable  foreign  residents 
appeared  ;  he  was  on  good  terms  with  the  Danish  Resident,  and 
it  was  plain  to  all  right-thinking  Dutch  and  English  that  he  was 


1687.] 


SUSPICION   OF   FRANCE. 


151 


nothing  less  than  a  French  spy.  In  hopes,  perhaps,  to  worm 
out  some  secrets,  they  even  lent  him  money.  One  night,  how- 
ever, he  disappeared,  leaving  nothing  but  debts  and  cast-off 
clothing ;  he  succeeded  somehow  in  spiriting  himself  across  the 
frontier,  and  was  never  heard  of  after,  except  through  a  small 
pamphlet  published  at  Geneva  in  1CS5,  which  purported  to  give 
his  veracious  history. 

The  prejudice  against  France  lingered  on  for  a  long  time, 
even  until  the  visit  of  Peter  to  the  Court  of  Versailles  in  1716, 
and  it  was,  perhaps,  as  much  due  to  this  prejudice  as  to  any 
better  reason  that  the  Government  of  Sophia,  on  the  proposi- 
tion of  the  Envoy  from  Brandenburg,  gave  full  and  free 
permission  to  all  Protestants  driven  out  of  France  by  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes  to  settle  in  Russia,  to  estab- 
lish themselves  there,  and  to  enter  the  public  service.1 


1  Archives  of  the  Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Paris — Russie ;  Reports  of 
Dutch  Residents  at  Moscow  in  the  Archives  at  the  Hague. 


Peter's  Travelling  Sledge. 


XVI. 

TROUBLES  WITH  TURKS  AND  TARTARS.— 1087. 

Even  before  the  conclusion  of  the  permanent  peace  with 
Poland,  Russia  had  been  brought  into  hostile  relations  with 
Turkey,  through  the  intrigues  of  Doroshenko,  the  chief  of  the 
Zaporovian  Cossacks  on  the  lower  Dnieper.  Wishing  to  secure 
the  independence  of  his  band,  Doroshenko  had  played,  by 
turns,  into  the  hands  of  Russia  and.  Poland,  and  had  even  finally 
given  in  his  submission  to  the  Turks,  lie  had  extended  his 
domain  to  the  western  side  of  the  Dnieper,  and  had  established 
his  capital  at  Tchigirm,  or  Cehryn,  a  small  fortified  town  on 
the  river  Tiasmin,  near  the  Dnieper,  and  on  the  very  frontiers  of 
Turkey.  Although  the  Turks  insisted  upon  their  supremacy, 
they  rendered  him  no  assistance,  and  Doroshenko,  to  insure 
himself  against  the  Turks,  swore  allegiance  to  the  Russian  Tsar 
■ — an  alleo-iance  that  was  considered  so  lax  that  the  Government 
felt  it  necessary  to  occupy  Tchigirin  with  troops  and  send  Doro- 
shenko to  private  life  in  Little  Russia.  Up  to  this  time  there 
never  had  been  any  hostilities  between  the  Russians  and  the 
Turks,  for  the  capture  of  the  town  of  Azof,  in  the  reign  of  the 
Tsar  Michael,  had  been  effected  by  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don, 
and  their  proceedings,  after  careful  consideration  at  a  meeting 
of  the  States  General,  were  disapproved,  and  the  town  was  re- 
turned to  the  Turks.  The  relations  between  Russia  and  Turkey 
had  been  so  friendly  that  the  Russian  ambassadors  at  Constan- 
tinople were  always  treated  with  greater  consideration  than 
those  of  other  powers,  and  they  more  generally  succeeded  in 
accomplishing  their  ends.  Russia  was  at  that  time  virtually  an 
Oriental  power ;  its  envoys  understood  the  feelings  and  ways  of 
Orientals,  and  its  relations  with  the  Turks  "were,  therefore, 
simpler  and  more  easily  managed    than  those  of  the  Western 


1677.]  SIEGE  OF  TCHIGIRIN".  153 

nations.  The  occasional  incursions  of  the  Crim  Tartars  into 
the  Russian  border  provinces  had  produced  disputes  and  dis- 
agreements, but  these  were  readily  settled.  The  troubles  caused 
by  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine,  since  their  separation  from 
Poland  and  their  first  oath  of  allegiance  to  Russia,  had  lasted  so 
long,  and  had  been  the  cause  of  so  many  forays  of  the  Tartars,  that 
it  was  almost  in  an  imperceptible  manner  that  the  friendly  re- 
lations of  Russia  and  Turkey  became  so  far  cooled  as  to  pro- 
duce an  open  Avar.  On  the  representation  of  the  Tartar  Khan 
that  Doroshenko  had  gone  over  to  the  Russians,  the  Sultan 
drew  forth  from  the  Seven  Towers,  in  which  he  was  imprisoned, 
YViry  Ivhmelnitsky,  the  son  of  old  Bogdan,  a  fugitive  Cossack 
lletman,  and  proclaimed  him  Iletman  and  Prince  of  Little 
Russia.  lie  declared  his  claim  to  the  whole  of  the  Ukraine 
and  Little  Russia,  and  his  intention  of  taking  possession  of 
the  country  by  force  of  arms.  The  efforts  of  the  Russians 
to  ward  off  the  war  were  futile,  as  they  could  not  consent 
to  deliver  up  the  whole  of  the  Ukraine  to  the  Turks.  War 
with  Turkey  seemed  to  the  Russians  of  that  day  a  much  more 
dangerous  and  terrible  thing  than  it  really  proved  to  be.  The 
Turks  were  then  at  the  height  of  their  success ;  they  still 
held  the  greater  part  of  Hungary,  and  their  troops  had  not 
yet  been  defeated  before  Vienna.  In  point  of  fact,  the  whole 
war  was  reduced  to  two  campaigns  against  Tchigirin.  In 
August,  16TT,  the  Seraskier  Ibrahim  Pasha,  together  with 
Ivhmelnitsky,  appeared  before  Tchigirin,  where  they  were  to 
lie  met  by  the  Tartar  Khan.  Prince  Ramodanofsky  had  com- 
mand of  the  Russian  forces,  supported  by  the  Iletman  Sam- 
oilovitch  and  his  Cossacks.  The  efforts  of  the  Turks  and  Tar- 
tars to  prevent  the  crossing  of  the  Russians  failed.  The  Pasha 
of  Bosnia,  with  sixteen  thousand  troops,  was  routed,  and  on 
September  7,  only  three  weeks  after  his  first  appearance  there, 
and  on  the  anniversary  of  the  evacuation  of  Corfu  by  the  Turks, 
and  the  deliverance  of  Malta,  Ibrahim  Pasha  was  obliged  to 
raise  the  siege  and  hastily  retire,  pursued  by  the  whole  garrison 
of  Tchigirin.  The  Turks  retreated  in  such  haste  that  in  three 
days  they  arrived  at  the  river  Bug,  although  they  had  taken 
thirteen  to  advance  from  there  to  Tchigirin.  They  lost  all  their 
artillery  and  all  their  baggage,  and  their  loss  in  men  was  esti- 


154  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

mated  by  themselves  at  10,000,  and  by  the  Russians  at  only 
4,000 — a  circumstance  almost  unique  in  military  annals,  where 
it  is  a  received  rule  to  undervalue  your  own  losses  and  exag- 
gerate those  of  the  enemy.  When  the  Turks  had  got  out  of 
reach,  the  Russians  put  Tchigirin  into  a  state  of  defence  and 
withdrew  the  great  body  of  their  troops  to  Little  Russia,  while 
they  discussed  whether  it  were  better  to  abandon  Tchigirin  en- 
tirely, or  to  increase  its  garrison  and  hold  it  against  the  Turks. 
The  latter  alternative  was  considered  preferable,  for  Samoilovitch 
represented  that,  if  the  town  were  destroyed,  the  Turks  could 
easily  rebuild  it,  and  would  then  have  an  open  road  into  the 
heart  of  the  Ukraine.  As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  Turkish 
disaster  reached  Constantinople,  great  preparations  were  made 
for  a  new  campaign.  Taxes  were  increased,  and  all  persons  in 
service  were  ordered  to  be  ready  for  departure.  The  Seraskier 
Ibrahim  Pasha  was  disgraced,  and  the  Khan  of  the  Crimea, 
Selim  Ghirei,  who  was  charged  with  the  blame  of  the  defeat, 
was  deposed.  A  Russian .  ambassador,  Porosukof,  was  sent  to 
Constantinople  to  endeavour  to  make  peace,  as,  in  spite  of  their 
defeat,  the  Turks  still  insisted  on  the  surrender  of  Tchigirin  and 
the  lower  Dnieper,  and  the  Russians  were  obliged  to  continue 
their  preparations  for  a  new  campaign.  About  the  middle  of 
July,  1678,  the  Grand  Vizier  Kara  Mustapha  Pasha  appeared 
before  Tchigirin,  and,  after  a  solemn  sacrifice  to  God,  to  implore 
his  protection,  the  siege  was  begun.  The  investment  progressed 
slowly,  and  the  Turks  were  in  such  straits  that  they  were  about 
to  abandon  the  siege,  when,  on  the  advice  of  Ahmed  Pasha, 
they  resolved  to  throw  themselves  between  the  Russians  and 
the  fortress  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and  risk  everything 
in  a  battle.  They  were  signally  defeated,  and  retreated  with 
great  loss.  Nine  days  later  they  resolved  to  make  one  more 
attack,  and  while  the  Russians  and  Cossacks  were  celebrating, 
with  an  unusual  amount  of  drunkenness,  the  feast  of  St. 
Matthew,  which  fell  on  a  Sunday,  they  exploded  two  mines, 
which  made  a  breach  in  the  wall,  and  took  the  town  by  assault. 
Subsequently  they  succeeded  in  repelling  a  night  attack  on  their 
camp  by  the  Russians  ;  but  news  having  reached  the  Grand 
Yizier  that  the  Russians  contemplated  another  such  attack, 
he  thought  it  best  to  retire,  and  was  subsequently  worsted  in 


1680.]  TWENTY    YEARS   TRUCE.  155 

an  encounter  with  the  troops  of  Ramodanofsky,  who  followed 
him  up.  Although  one  aim  of  the  Turkish  campaign  had 
been  accomplished — the  destruction  of  Tchigirin — no  part 
of  the  Ukraine  had  been  occupied,  and  barely  a  quarter  of 
the  Turkish  army  returned  Math  the  Grand  Vizier  to  Adrian- 
ople. 

The  Turks  made  no  further  campaign,  but  the  Russians 
were  constantly  agitated  by  the  prospect  of  greater  sacrifices  and 
greater  losses.  Negotiations  for  peace  were  carried  on,  and 
were  at  last  successful  in  1680,  when,  by  the  advice  of  the 
Grand  Yizier,  these  negotiations  were  continued  with  the  Khan 
of  the  Crimea.  By  the  peace  thus  concluded,  which  was 
ratified  at  Constantinople  in  1681,  a  truce  for  twenty  years  was 
agreed  upon  with  the  Tartars  and  the  Turks,  the  Turkish 
dominions  were  allowed  to  extend  to  the  Dnieper,  and  even  the 
Zaporovian  Cossacks  were  for  the  moment  given  up  to  them, 
while  Kief  and  all  the  Ukraine  was  recognised  as  belonging  to 
Russia.  Although  the  Russians  were  at  first  unwilling  to  con- 
sent to  the  surrender  of  the  Zaporovians,  yet  the  news  of  the 
treaty  was  received  with  great  joy,  not  only  at  Moscow,  but  also 
through  the  whole  of  Little  Russia,  for  it  was  thought  that  the 
relief  from  dangers  of  war  with  Turkey  were  cheaply  bought  at 
the  sacrifice  of  a  bare  steppe  and  a  troublesome  population.  In 
spite  of  the  treaty  concluded  in  the  reign  of  Theodore,  the 
action  of  Turkey  towards  Russia  was  frequently  very  unfriendly. 
Contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  treaty,  the  towns  on  the 
lower  Dnieper  were  allowed  to  be  again  inhabited ;  more  than 
that,  the  inhabitants  of  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river  were  in- 
vited to  cross  and  settle  on  the  other  side,  and  even  Tchigirin 
was  colonised  by  "Wallachs.  In  addition  to  this,  incendiaries 
were  sent  across  the  river  to  set  fire  to  towns  and  farm-houses, 
in  hopes  that  the  population  would  thus  be  forced  to  emigrate 
to  the  western  side. 

The  Government  of  Sophia  was  bound  by  the  Treaty  of 
Eternal  Peace  with  Poland  to  make  war  upon  the  Turks,  and 
was  incited  besides  by  the  splendid  success  of  the  Austrians  in 
recapturing  Buda,  and  by  the  progress  of  the  Venetians  in  the 
Morea,  but  it  intended  to  direct  the  Russian  arms  not  so  much 
against  the  Turks  themselves  as  against  their  dependents,  the 


156  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

Tartars.  The  relations  with  the  Tartars  had  become  almost 
unendurable.  Although  the  old  lines  of  defensive  walls  through 
the  country  still  existed,  they  were  badly  kept  up,  and  in  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  even  during  the  reign 
of  Alexis,  in  the  midst  of  peace,  towns  were  surprised  and  their 
inhabitants  all  carried  off  to  slavery.  In  1602,  the  Tartars 
captured  the  town  of  Putivl,  and  carried  off  twenty  thousand 
prisoners.  There  was  not  a  harbour  in  the  East,  in  Greece. 
Turkey,  Syria  or  Egypt,  where  Russian  slaves  were  not  to  bo 
seen  rowing  in  the  galleys  ;  the  Khan  of  the  Crimea  sent  at  one 
time  to  the  Sultan  eighty  Russian  boys  as  a  present.  The 
Serbian  Kryzhanitch  says  that,  so  great  was  the  crowd  every- 
where of  Russian  slaves,  that  the  Turks  asked  in  mockery 
whether  any  inhabitants  still  remained  in  Russia.  For  a  while 
the  Tartars  were  kept  in  some  kind  of  order  by  the  yearly  pay- 
ment of  large  sums,  which  the  Russians  called  presents,  and  the 
Tartars  called  tribute ;  but  even  during  the  regency  of  Sophia 
the  Tartar  incursions  were  renewed  and  the  inhabitants  of 
whole  villages  were  carried  awTay,  although  these  forays  were  on  a 
much  smaller  scale  than  before.  In  1082,  the  Russian  Envoy 
Tarakanof  was  seized  by  order  of  the  Khan,  taken  into  a  stable 
and  beaten  with  a  cudgel,  as  well  as  tortured  by  tire,  in  order 
to  extort  his  consent  to  the  payment  of  a  larger  tribute.  As  a 
result  of  this,  the  Russians  refused  to  send  any  more  envoys, 
and  insisted  that  all  negotiations  should  be  carried  on  at  some 
place  on  the  frontier.  The  Government  at  Moscow  was  influ- 
enced more  and  more  by  a  feeling  of  national  honour,  but  it  was 
remote  from  the  scene  of  hostilities.  The  Cossacks  of  the 
Ukraine,  who  would  have  to  bear  the  burden  of  the  campaign, 
and  who  would  be  exposed  to  reprisals  in  case  of  disaster,  were 
not  so  inclined  to  engage  in  war,  either  against  the  Turks 
or  the  Tartars.  If  war  must  be,  they  preferred  it  against  their 
old  enemies,  the  Poles.  For  that  reason  the  Hetman  Samoilo- 
vitch  constantly  opposed  the  alliance  with  Poland,  and  de- 
precated any  campaign  against  the  Tartars.  He  thought  the 
Tartars  easy  to  manage — at  the  expense,  to  be  sure,  of  a  sum 
of  money — and  preferred  the  comfort  and  security  of  his 
subjects  to  the  delicate  feelings  of  honour  of  the  regency  at 
Moscow.     ( 'uriously  enough,  more  advice  against  the  war  came 


1686.]  WAR   AGAINST  TURKEY.  157 

from  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who,  in  the  name  of  the 
Eastern  Christians,  begged  the  Tsars  to  remain  at  peace  with 
Turkey,  as  in  case  of  war  the  Sultan  would  turn  all  his  rage 
against  them.  'We  beg  and  pray  your  Tsarish  Majesty,'  wrote 
Dionysius,  in  January,  1687, 'do  not  be  guilty  of  shedding 
the  blood  of  so  many  Christians ;  do  not  help  the  French  and 
extirpate  the  orthodox  Christians.  This  will  be  neither  pleasing 
to  God  nor  praiseworthy  to  men.' 

War,  however,  had  been  resolved  upon,  and,  in  the  autumn 
of  1686,  the  order  was  given  to  prepare  for  a  campaign  against 
the  Crimea.     In  the  decree  of  the  Tsars  it  was  declared  : — 

'  The  campaign  is  undertaken  to  free  the  Russian  land  from 
unendurable  insults  and  humiliations.  From  no  place  do  the 
Tartars  carry  away  so  many  prisoners  as  from  Russia ;  they 
sell  Christians  like  cattle,  and  insult  the  orthodox  faith.  But 
this  is  little.  The  Russian  Empire  pays  the  Infidels  a  yearly 
tribute,  for  which  it  suffers  shame  and  reproaches  from  neigh- 
bouring states,  and  even  this  tribute  does  not  at  all  protect  its 
boundaries.  The  Khan  takes  money,  dishonours  Russian  en- 
voys, and  destroys  Russian  towns,  and  the  Turkish  Sultan  has 
no  control  whatever  over  him.' 

An  army  of  100,000  men  was  collected  at  the  river  Merlo, 
under  the  chief  command  of  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  and  in  May, 
1687,  he  was  joined  on  the  Samara  by  Iletman  Samoilovitch 
with  50,000  Cossacks.  Golitsyn,  though  a  great  statesman, 
was  not  a  good  general,  and  accepted  the  command  much  against 
his  will.  It  was  forced  upon  him  by  his  enemies ;  he  himself 
would  have  preferred  to  remain  at  Moscow  to  counteract  their 
schemes.  This  was  the  time  when  the  aristocratic  party  was 
forming  itself  around  Peter,  and  was  using  his  name  in  their 
opposition  to  the  regency  of  Sophia.  Golits3'ii  was  especially 
hated  by  that  party.  He  had  only  one  faithful  adherent  in 
Moscow  on  whom  he  could  thoroughly  depend,  and  their 
interests  were  closely  bound  together.  That  was  Shaklovity. 
Golitsyn  had  no  sooner  started  on  his  campaign  than  he  began 
to  perceive  the  machinations  of  his  enemies,  not  only  in  Mos- 
cow, but  in  the  camp.  From  Moscow  he  heard  that  his  old 
enemy  Prince  Michael  Tcherkasky  was  rising  in  power,  and 
was  about  to  succeed  to  the  place  of   the  boyar  Stresknef. 


158  PETER  THE    GREAT. 

Golitsyn  wrote  to  Shaklovity,  as  he  did  constantly  during  the 
campaign,  telling  his  griefs,  and  begging  his  assistance  :— 

'We  always  have  sorrow  and  little  joy,  not  like  those  who 
are  always  joyful  and  have  their  own  way.  In  all  my  affairs 
my  only  hope  is  in  thee.  "Write  me,  pray,  whether  there  are 
in  it  any  devilish  obstacles  coming  from  these  people.  For  God's 
sake,  keep  a  sleepless  eye  on  Tcherkasky,  and  don't  let  him 
have  that  place,  even  if  you  have  to  use  the  influence  of  the 
Patriarch  or  of  the  Princess  against  him.' 

The  reason  why  Golitsyn  talked  about  using  the  influence 
of  the  Patriarch  was  because  he  found  that  the  Patriarch  was 
not  entirely  well  disposed  to  him,  and  had  taken  various  vest- 
ments from  a  church  which  he  had  built  and  decorated,  and 
prohibited  their  use.  In  the  camp,  the  boyars  were  disobedient 
and  quarrelled  over  their  places,  and  did  much  to  annoy  him. 
At  the  outset  of  the  campaign,  Prince  Boris  Dolgoriiky  and 
Yury  Stcherbatof  appeared,  dressed  in  deep  black,  with  all 
their  retainers  in  mourning,  and  long  black  housings  spread  over 
their  horses.  This  Avas  not  only  a  personal  insult  to  Golitsyn, 
but  also,  owing  to  the  superstition  of  the  time,  from  which  Gol- 
itsyn Avas  not  entirely  free,  exercised  a  powerful  influence  on 
the  minds  of  the  soldiery,  as  a  presage  of  ill-luck.  This  pres- 
age was,  to  a  great  extent,  justified  by  the  results  of  the  cam- 
paign. The  united  army  of  the  Russians  and  Cossacks  advanced 
southward  through  the  steppe  till  they  reached  a  place  called 
the  Great  Meadow,  near  the  little  stream  of  Ivarat-chakrak, 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  Isthmus  of  Perekop. 
Xot  a  sign  of  any  kind  could  be  seen  of  the  Tartars,  but  the 
Russians  were  met  by  a  worse  enemy — a  fire  on  the  steppe 
which  destroyed  all  the  grass  and  forage  for  miles  around, 
threatened  the  loss  of  the  baggage  and  provision  trains,  and  at 
the  most  oppressive  period  of  a  southern  summer  caused  the 
army  great  suffering  from  flame  and  smoke.  A  timely  rain  filled 
the  streams,  but  still  there  was  no  forage,  and  the  army  was 
obliged  to  retreat  without  even  having  seen  the  enemv.  Golit- 
syn  encamped  at  the  first  suitable  locality,  proposed  to  send  a 
force  of  30,000  men  to  the  lower  Dnieper,  and  reported  to  Mos- 
cow for  further  orders.  Meanwhile  a  rumour  got  into  circula- 
tion in  the  camp  that  the  steppe  had  been  set  on  fire,  not  by 


J _L__-i_^_  _ IM 


1687.]  REWARDS.  159 

the  Tartars,  but  by  the  Cossacks,  with  the  intention  of  relieving 
themselves  from  the  burden  of  the  further  campaign.  This 
story,  in  the  highest  degree  improbable,  found  some  credence, 
when  connected  with  what  wras  called  the  obstinacy  of  the  Het- 
man  Samoilovitch  in  originally  opposing  the  war  against  the 
Tartars,  and  with  the  numerous  complaints  of  oppression  against 
him  from  his  own  subjects.  The  Government,  after  sending 
Shaklovity  to  investigate  the  case,  decided  to  remove  Samoil- 
ovitch. Preparations  were  secretly  made,  and,  on  August  2,  he 
was  arrested  in  the  night,  relieved  of  the  post  of  hetman,  and 
sent  to  Moscow.  The  ukase  dismissing  him  said  nothing  about 
the  accusation  of  setting  fire  to  the  steppes,  but  stated  merely 
that,  in  order  to  prevent  an  outbreak,  the  interest  of  Little  Rus- 
sia required  the  removal  of  a  hetman  who  had  no  longer  the 
confidence  of  the  population.  This  able,  energetic,  and  remark- 
able man  was  succeeded  as  hetman  by  the  famous  Mazeppa, 
then  the  Secretary  General  of  the  Cossack  Government.  Maz- 
eppa's  election,  as  wrell  as  the  fall  of  Samoilovitch,  was  due  in 
a  very  great  measure  to  the  personal  influence  of  Golitsyn,  who 
disliked  Samoilovitch.  Mazeppa  showed  his  gratitude,  not  by 
words  alone,  but  by  a  present  of  10,000  rubles.  This  change 
was  detrimental  to  Russian  interests.  Samoilovitch  had  been 
thoroughly  devoted  to  his  people  and  to  the  Russian  Govern- 
ment, while  Mazeppa  began  a  policy  of  deceit  wdiich  culminated 
in  his  rebellion  against  Russia  during  the  Swedish  invasion. 
Samoilovitch  died  in  banishment  in  Siberia,  and  one  of  his  sons 
was  executed.  His  whole  property  was  confiscated,  and  half 
of  it  given  to  Mazeppa. 

Golitsyn  returned  to  Moscow  late  in  the  evening  of  Septem- 
ber 14,  and  the  next  morning  was  admitted  to  kiss  the  hands  of 
the  Regent  and  the  two  Tsars.  Although,  according  to  the  Swed- 
ish Envoy  Kochen,  forty  or  fifty  thousand  men  had  been  lost 
in  the  campaign,  yet  Golitsyn  was  hailed  as  a  victorious  general, 
and  speedily  regained  all  his  former  power  and  prestige.  He 
received  a  gold  chain  and  three  hundred  ducats,  and  gold  medals 
were  struck  and  given  to  the  officers  and  nobility,  while  smaller 
medals,  all  of  them  bearing  the  effigies  of  Sophia,  Ivan  and 
Peter,  as  well  as  the  initial  letters  of  their  names,  were  given 
to  the  soldiery.     Money  and  land  was   bestowed  lavishly,  as 


160 


PETEll   THE   GREAT. 


never  before  after  a  Russian  campaign,  and  even  the  troops 
which  came  too  late  were  not  left  without  reward.  The  pro- 
clamation of  the  Regent  to  the  Russian  people  spoke  of  the  cam- 
paign as  a  splendid  victory,  recounted  the  speedy  and  difficult 
march,  the  panic  of  the  Tartar  Khan,  the  horrors  of  the  burn- 
ing steppes,  and  the  safe  retreat.  In  order  to  keep  up  the  credit 
of  the  Russian  arms,  equally  glowing  accounts  of  the  expedi- 
tion were  sent  abroad,  and  printed  in  Dutch  and  German,  and 
Baron  Van  Keller  himself  saw  that  an  apology  for  Golitsyn 
was  properly  printed  in  the  Dutch  newspapers.1 


1  Ustrialof,  vol.  i.  ch.  x.  ;  Solovief,  vol.  xiv. ;  Possel,  Lefort,  vol.  i.  ; 
Gordon's  Diary  ;  Bruckner,  Furst  W.  W.  Golizyn  in  Eussische  Bevue,  1878  ; 
von  Hammer,  Ulstoire  de  V Empire  Ottoman. 


Medal  Given  to  Prince   Golftsyn  for  the   Crimean   Campaign. 


XVII. 

THE  SECOND  CRIMEAN  EXPEDITION.— 1689. 

The  Poles  were  no  more  lucky  than  the  Russians  in  the 
campaign  of  1G87.  They  vainly  besieged  the  fortress  of  Kame- 
netz,  in  Podolia,  and  were  obliged  to  retire  in  disgust.  Their 
allies,  the  Austrians  and  Venetians,  were  more  fortunate.  They 
beat  the  Turks  in  Hungary,  Dalmatia  and  the  Morea,  and  took 
possession  of  the  chief  frontier  fortresses.  It  was  in  this  cam- 
paign that  Morosini  took  Athens,  a  conquest  glorious  to  the 
Venetians,  but  regretted  by  posterity.  An  unfortunate  bomb 
struck  the  Parthenon,  and  exploded  the  Turkish  powder  stored 
in  it,  and  reduced  this  wonderful  building  to  its  present  state. 
From  the  Pirasus  Morosini  took  the  four  marble  lions  which 
now  decorate  the  front  of  the  arsenal  at  Venice.  The  Turkish 
defeat  and  disasters  resulted  in  a  military  rebellion,  which  cost 
the  Grand  Vizier  his  life,  and  the  Sultan  Mohammed  IV.  his 
throne.  He  was  replaced  by  his  elder  brother,  Suleiman  II. 
Turkey  had  never  been  in  such  straits,  and  there  seemed  to  the 
Christian  inhabitants  every  chance  of  freeing  themselves  from 
the  Turkish  yoke.  Dionysius,  the  former  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, "who  had  been  deposed  for  the  fourth  time  through 
the  intrigues  of  rival  bishops  who  paid  higher  bribes  to  the 
Divan,  but  according  to  his  own  account  for  having  yielded  in 
the  matter  of  the  metropolis  of  Kief,  wrote  to  the  Tsars  from 
his  refuge  at  Mount  Athos,  and  in  the  name  of  the  orthodox 
Christians  besought  the  Russians  to  turn  their  arms  once  more 
against  the  Turks. 

'All  states  and  powers,'  he  wrote,  '  all  pious,  orthodox  kings 

and  princes  have  together  risen  up  against  Anti-Christ,  and  are 

warring  with  him  by  land  and  sea,  while  your  empire  sleeps. 

All  pious  people — Serbs,  Bulgarians,  Moldavians,  and  "Walla- 

Vol.  I.— 11 


1G2  PETER   THE    GREAT. 

chians — are  waiting  for  your  holy  rule.  Rise  ;  do  not  sleep ; 
come  to  save  us.' 

The  same  messenger,  Isaiah,  Archimandrite  of  the  Monastery 
of  St.  Paul  at  Mount  Athos,  brought  a  letter  from  Sherban 
( 'antacuzene,  the  Hospodar  of  Wallachia,  who  also  wrote  that 
all  orthodox  people  begged  the  Tsars  to  deliver  them  from  the 
hands  of  the  '  Pharaoh  in  the  flesh.'  A  similar  letter  came 
from  Arsenius,  the  Patriarch  of  Serbia.  The  Christians,  how- 
ever, prayed  the  Russians  not  so  much  against  the  Turks  as 
against  the  Latins  and  Catholics.  They  feared  that  if  Turkey 
were  subjugated  by  the  Austrians  and  Venetians,  without  the 
intervention  of  Russia,  the  religious  tyranny  of  the  Roman 
Church  would  be  worse  than  the  oppression  of  the  Sultan. 
The  Regent  replied  to  these  demonstrations  by  urging  the 
Wallachians  to  send  the  large  Slavonic  forces,  of  which  they 
had  boasted,  to  assist  them  in  another  campaign  against  the 
Tartars,  saying  that  after  the  Crimea  was  conquered  they  would 
see  to  the  freedom  of  the  countries  of  the  Danube  and  the  Bal- 
kans. Panslavism  had  already  been  preached  in  Moscow,  and 
especially  by  the  Serb  Yury  Kryzhanitch,  the  first  great  Slavo- 
phile, and  it  is  interesting  to  see  how,  even  in  the  earliest  time 
of  difficulty  between  Turkey  and  Russia,  the  Slavonic  popula- 
tions subject  to  the  Sultan  looked  to  Russia  as  their  natural 
friend  and  protector. 

There  were  many  difficulties,  however,  in  the  way  of  a 
second  campaign.  The  financial  condition  of  Russia  was  very 
bad,  the  Russian  envoy  Postnik  had  been  unsuccessful  in  con- 
cluding a  loan  in  England — if  other  reasons  were  wanting,  the 
troubles  of  the  last  year  of  James  II.  were  sufficient — and  taxes 
were  already  most  burdensome.  Fears  lest  Poland  and  Austria 
might  conclude  a  separate  peace  with  the  Turks  which  would  be 
disadvantageous  to  Russia  ;  the  urgent  demands  of  the  Poles  for 
assistance,  and  the  fact  that  the  Tartar  Khan,  in  spite  of  strict 
orders  from  the  Sultan,  had  himself  taken  the  offensive  and 
had  ravaged  the  provinces  of  Russia  and  Poland,  advancing,  in 
March,  1688,  through  Volynia  and  Podolia  nearly  to  Lemberg, 
and  carrying  off  60,000  of  the  inhabitants  into  slavery, — these 
were  sufficient  reasons  for  a  new  campaign. 

In   the   autumn   of  1688   the  new   campaign   against   the 


1089.]  SECOND   CRIMEAN   CAMPAIGN.  163 

Crimea  was  proclaimed.  All  preparations  were  made  for  start- 
ing at  an  early  period  in  the  spring,  and- for  guarding  against 
the  calamities  which  had  frustrated  the  previous  expedition,  and 
the  troops  were  ordered  to  he  at  their  rendezvous  no  later  than 
February,  1689.  This  time  it  was  absolutely  necessary  for 
GoKtsyn  to  defeat  the  Tartars,  in  order  to  frustrate  the  machin- 
ations of  his  political  and  personal  enemies.  Hatred  to  him 
went  so  far  that  it  is  said  an  assassin  even  attacked  him  in  his 
sledge,  and  was  arrested  by  one  of  his  servants.  The  assassin 
was  tortured,  but  no  publicity  was  given  to  the  affair.  Just  as 
GoKtsyn  was  starting  out  on  the  campaign,  a  coffin  was  found 
in  front  of  the  door  of  his  palace,  with  a  warning  that  if  this 
campaign  were  as  unfortunate  as  the  preceding  one,  a  coffin 
would  be  made  ready  for  him.  An  example  not  only  of  the 
suspicions  which  GoKtsyn  entertained  of  those  about  him,  but 
of  the  superstition  in  which  he,  as  well  as  many  other  eminent 
and  educated  men  of  that  time,  believed,  was  that  one  of  his 
servants,  Ivan  Bunakof,  was  subjected  to  torture  for  having 
'  taken  his  trace ' — that  is,  for  having  taken  up  the  earth  where 
Golitsyn's  foot  had  left  an  imprint.  Bunakof  explained  it  by 
saying  that  he  took  the  earth  in  his  handkerchief  and  tied  it 
round  him  to  cure  the  cramp,  as  this  remedy  had  been  recom- 
mended to  him,  and  always,  when  any  cramp  seized  him,  he 
immediately  took  up  some  of  the  surrounding  earth.  The  ex- 
planation was  considered  insufficient,  and  the  man  was  punished. 
By  the  end  of  February,  Golitsyn  had  collected  112,000 
men,  and  set  out  on  his  march.  A  month  later  he  reported 
that  the  expedition  was  greatly  retarded  by  the  snow  and  the 
extreme  cold.  He  was  soon  joined  by  Mazeppa,  with  his  Cos- 
sacks. About  the  middle  of  April,  news  reached  Moscow  that, 
although  there  had  yet  been  no  fires  in  the  steppe,  the  Khan 
had  announced  his  intention  to  set  fire  to  it  as  soon  as  the  Rus- 
sians approached  Perekop,  and  orders  were  sent  to  Golitsyn  to 
have  the  steppe  burnt  in  advance  of  the  Russian  troops  in  order 
that  they  might  find  fresh  grass  springing  up  for  them  as  they 
went  on.  No  misadventure  of  any  kind  took  place ;  there  was 
plenty  of  water,  and  by  the  middle  of  May  Golitsyn  drew  near 
to  Perekop  and  first  met  the  Tartar  troops.  The  nomads,  in 
great  multitudes,  attacked  the  Russians  on  all  sides,  and  were 


104  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

beaten  off  with  some  difficulty,  although  they  still  continued  to 
harass  the  Russian  advance.  We  learn  from  the  diary  of  Gen- 
eral Gordon  that  the  troops  were  engaged  in  several  slight  con- 
tests of  this  kind,  but  that  there  was  no  decisive  battle.  Golit- 
svn,  however,  reported  to  the  Government  that  he  had  gained 
a  great  victory  over  the  Tartars,  and  inflicted  enormous  losses 
upon  them.  On  May  30,  the  Russians  reached  the  famous 
Perekop,  a  fort  protected  by  a  high  wall  and  a  deep  ditch,  run- 
ning entirely  across  the  isthmus.  It  had  seemed  that  Perekop 
was  to  be  the  end  of  the  campaign,  and  Golitsyn  had  apparently 
thought  that  once  they  arrived  there  the  Tartars  would  be 
frightened,  and  would  immediately  surrender.  lie  found,  how- 
ever, that  the  fort  of  Perekop  was  not  to  be  easily  taken,  espe- 
cially by  troops  that  had  already  been  two  days  without  water ; 
and  that,  even  should  Perekop  be  taken,  the  steppes  of  the 
Crimea,  being  arid  plains,  destitute  of  water,  and  possessing 
only  a  little  saltish  vegetation,  would  be  even  worse  than  the 
places  he  had  already  passed  through.  He  therefore  sent  a 
message  to  the  Ivhan,  hoping  to  get  from  him  a  peace  advan- 
tageous to  Russia.  The  negotiations  lingered,  and  it  was  im- 
possible for  Golitsyn  to  wait  longer.  lie  therefore  began  his 
retreat  without  having  captured  Perekop,  and  without  having 
secured  peace.  That  Golitsyn  should  have  returned  at  all,  that 
he  should  have  extricated  his  army  from  this  uncomfortable 
position  without  losing  the  greater  part  of  it,  was  interpreted 
by  the  Government  at  Moscow  as  a  great  success,  and  glowing 
bulletins  were  issued,  and  great  rewards  were  promised  to  those 
who  had  taken  part  in  the  campaign.  For  reasons  of  state  it 
was  necessary  to  uphold  Golitsyn,  who  was  the  ablest  and 
strongest  member  of  the  Government.  But  Sophia  had  other 
excuses — her  passionate  affection  for  Golitsyn  blinded  her  to 
his  defects.  She  implicitly  believed  the  exaggerated  despatches 
which  he  had  sent  home,  in  which  defeat  was  skilfully  convert- 
ed into  victory,  and  replied  in  letters  which  plainly  indicate  the 
relations  which  existed  between  them : 

'  My  Light,  Brothee,  Vassenka  : — Mayst  thou  be  in  good 
health,  little  father,  for  many  years!  Through  the  mercy  of 
God  and  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  by  thy  own  good  sense  and  good 
fortune,  thou  hast  been  victorious  over  the  children  of  Haorar, 


1089.]  Sophia's  letteks.  165 

and  may  the  Lord  give  thee  in  future  to  overcome  our  enemies ! 
And  vet,  my  love,  I  can  scarcely  believe  that  thou  art  returning 
to  us ;  I  shall  only  believe  it  when  I  see  thee  in  my  embrace. 
Thou  hast  asked  me,  my  love,  to  pray  for  you.  In  truth  I  am 
a  sinner  before  God  and  unworthy,  yet,  even  though  a  sinner,  I 
dare  to  hope  in  his  mercy.  I  always  petition  him  to  let  me  see 
my  love  again  in  joy.' 

"When  Golitsyn  had  written  that  he  had  begun  to  retire 
from  Perekop,  Sophia  answered : 

'  This  day  is  mighty  joyful  to  me  because  the  Lord  God  has 
glorified  his  holy  name,  as  also  that  of  his  mother,  the  Holy 
Virgin,  for  thee,  my  love.  Such  a  thing  was  never  heard  of, 
nor  did  our  fathers  see  such  mercy  of  God.  Like  the  children 
of  Israel  has  God  led  you  from  the  land  of  Egypt — then  by 
Moses,  his  disciple,  now  by  thee,  my  soul.  Praise  to  our  God, 
who  has  thus  been  merciful  to  us  through  thee.  Oh  !  my  little 
father,  how  shall  I  ever  pay  thee  for  these,  thy  countless 
labours  ?  Oh !  my  joy,  light  of  my  eyes,  how  can  I  believe  my 
heart  that  I  am  going  to  see  thee  again,  my  love !  That  day 
will  be  great  to  me  when  thou,  my  soul,  shalt  come  to  me.  If 
it  were  only  possible  for  me,  I  would  place  thee  before  me  in  a 
single  day.  Thy  letters  confided  to  God's  care,  have  all  reached 
me  in  safety.  Thy  letters  from  Perekop  came  on  Friday,  the 
11th.  I  was  going  on  foot  from  Vozdvizhenskoe,  and  had  just 
arrived  at  the  monastery  of  the  Miracle-Working  Sergius,  at 
the  holy  gates  themselves,  when  thy  letter  came  about  the  bat- 
tles. I  do  not  know  how  I  went  in.  I  read  as  I  walked.  What 
thou  hast  written,  little  father,  about  sending  to  the  monas- 
teries, that  I  have  fulfilled.  I  have  myself  made  pilgrimages  to 
all  the  monasteries  on  foot.  Thou  writest  that  I  should  pray 
for  thee.  God,  my  love,  knows  how  I  wish  to  see  thee,  my 
soul,  and  I  hope,  in  the  mercy  of  God,  that  He  will  allow  me 
to  see  thee,  my  hope.  "With  regard  to  the  troops,  do  just  as 
thou  hast  written.  I,  my  father,  am  well,  through  thy  prayers, 
and  we  are  all  well.  "When  God  gives  me  to  see  thee,  my  love, 
I  will  tell  thee  about  all  I  have  done  and  passed  through.' 

The  official  thanks  sent  to  Golitsyn  were  in  strong  terms, 
though  in  somewhat  different  form.  He  himself  was  most  anx- 
ious to  magnify  his  victories,  and  sent  messengers  direct  from 


166  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

the  camp  to  the  King  of  Poland,  informing  him  of  the  defeat 
of  150,000  Tartars,  of  the  flight  of  the  Khan,  and  of  the  gen- 
eral panic.  Employing  a  trick  which  is  now  so  common  as  not 
to  cause  surprise,  Golitsyn  instructed  the  Resident  at  Warsaw  to 
send  extracts  from  his  letter  to  Vienna,  Venice,  and  Home,  and 
to  take  measures  that  accounts  of  his  victory,  printed  in  all  parts 
of  Europe,  should  come  back  to  Moscow. 

ISTot  all,  however,  took  such  a  rosy  view  of  the  campaign  as 
did  Golitsyn.  General  Gordon,  in  a  letter  to  his  relative  the 
Earl  of  Errol,  says :  '  The  20th  wee  came  befor  the  Perecop,  et 
lodged  as  wee  marched,  where  wee  were  to  enter  into  a  treaty 
with  the  Tartars,  which  tooke  no  effect,  our  demands  being  too 
high,  and  they  not  condiscending  to  any  other  thing  as  to  estab- 
lish a  peace  of  the  former  conditions,  so  that  not  being  able  to 
exist  here  for  want  of  water,  grass  et  wood  for  such  numbers  as 
wee  had,  and  finding  no  advantage  by  taking  the  Perekop,  the 
next  day  wee  returned,  and  from  midday  till  night  we  were 
hotly  pursued  by  the  Tartars,  the  danger  being  great  et  fear 
greater,  if  the  Chan  with  all  his  forces  should  persue  us,  so  that 
I  was  commanded  from  the  left  wino-  with  7  Pes-iments  of 
Foot,  et  some  of  horse  (yet  all  on  Foot),  to  guard  the  Pear. 
They  persued  us  very  eagerly  8  dayes  together,  yet  gained  but 
litle,  haveing  no  such  great  numbers  as  wee  suspected.  Nothing 
troubled  us  et  our  horses  et  draught  beasts  so  much  in  this 
march  as  the  want  of  water,  for  albeit  wee  had  so  many  great 
caskes  with  water  along  with  yet  was  farr  short  of  giveing  re- 
lieffe  to  all,  and  had  not  God  Almighty  sent  us  rains  more  as 
ordinary  in  these  places,  wee  had  suffered  great  losses.  On  the 
12th  of  June,  we  came  to  the  River  Samara,  where  wee  were 
past  danger,  yet  hold  on  our  march  circumspectly  untill  we 
came  to  the  P.  Merlo.'  And  Lefort,  who  took  part  in  the  cam- 
paign, wrote  to  his  family  at  Geneva :  '  The  Muscovites  lost 
35,000  men— 20,000  killed  and  15,000  taken  prisoners.  Beside.- 
that,  seventy  cannon  were  abandoned,  and  all  the  war  material." 
The  remembrance  of  the  loss  of  these  cannon  remained  for  a 
long  time,  and  Manstein  tells  us  that  Munnich,  in  his  campaign 
in  the  Crimea  in  the  reign  of  the  Empress  Anne,  recovered 
some  of  the  cannon  lost  by  Golitsyn. 

Accusations  were  subsequently  brought  that  Golitsyn  had 


1689.]  REWARDS   FOR  THE   CAMPAIGN.  167 

been  bribed  by  the  Tartar  Khan  to  retreat  from  Perekop,  and 
there  was  a  story  that  before  Perekop,  the  Tartar  emissaries 
brought  secretly  to  Golitsyn's  tent  two  barrels  of  gold  pieces, 
which  turned  out  afterwards  to  be  nothing  but  copper  money 
slightly  gilded.  This  story  rests  on  the  testimony  of  deserters 
and  renegades,  and  scarcely  deserves  notice,  except  that  it 
formed  part  of  the  charges  of  high  treason  subsequently  pre- 
ferred against  Golitsyn.  It  wras  not,  however,  so  much  his 
imaginary  treason  as  it  was  his  carelessness,  his  military  inca- 
pacity, and  his  self-will  in  carrying  on  negotiations  without  con- 
sulting the  other  superior  officers,  which  caused  this  disaster  to 
the  Russian  arms. 

Not  by  any  means  the  best  satisfied  with  the  Crimean  cam- 
paign was  Peter.  Apart  from  the  severity  with  which  the  party 
of  boyars  who  surrounded  him  judged  all  the  acts  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Sophia,  he  himself  had  been  pursuing  so  vigorously 
his  military  studies,  and  was  so  deeply  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  putting  an  end  to  the  Tartar  domination,  that  he 
was  a  severe  critic  of  Golitsyn's  military  operations.  Golitsyn 
arrived  at  Moscow  on  July  8,  was  received  in  great  state  at  the 
banqueting-hall  by  Sophia  and  her  brother  Ivan,  and  was  pub- 
licly thanked ;  but  the  rewards  promised  to  those  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  campaign  could  not  then  be  published,  be- 
cause Peter  refused  his  consent,  as  he  was  unwilling  that  they 
should  receive  so  much  as  had  been  promised  without  consulting 
him.  It  was  not  until  August  5,  after  much  intreaty,  and  with 
great  difficulty,  Peter  was  induced  to  allow  the  rewards  of  the 
campaign  to  be  announced.  On  the  next  day  they  were  read 
out  to  the  boyars  and  their  comrades  in  the  inner  rooms  of  the 
Palace,  and  afterwards  to  the  general  public  on  the  Broad 
Staircase.  Golitsyn  received  a  large  gold  cup,  a  caftan  of  cloth 
of  gold  lined  with  sables,  a  large  sum  of  money,  and  an  estate 
in  the  district  of  Suzdal ;  while  the  other  Russian  officers  re- 
ceived money,  silver  cups,  stuff  for  caftans,  and  part  of  the 
estates  which  they  already  enjoyed  as  crown  tenants  were  made 
hereditary  with  them.  The  foreign  officers  received  each  a 
month's  wages,  sables,  cups,  and  rich  stuffs.  Commemorative 
gold  medals  were  given  to  everyone,  and  it  was  ordered  that 
the  names  of  all  who  died  in  the  campaign  should  be  mentioned 


168  PETEE  THE   GREAT. 

in  the  public  prayers  in  the  Cathedral.  Etiquette  then  required 
that  the  officers  who  had  been  thus  distinguished  should  go  to 
Preobrazhensky,  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  Tsar  Peter,  and 
thank  him  for  his  grace.  They  went,  but  they  were  not  re- 
ceived ;  '  at  which  some  were  much  troubled,'  says  Gordon,  '  but 
others  were  not,  because  they  thought  it  was  better  to  take  the 
bitt  and  the  buffet  with  it,  for  everyone  saw  plainly  and  knew 
that  the  consent  of  the  younger  Tsar  had  not  been  extorted 
without  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  that  this  merely  made  him 
more  excited  against  the  generalissimo  and  the  mogl  prominent 
counsellors  of  the  other  party  at  court ;  for  it  was  now  seen  that 
an  open  breach  was  imminent,  which  would  probably  result  in 
the  greatest  bitterness.  Meanwhile  everything  was,  as  far  as 
possible,  held  secret  in  the  great  houses,  but  yet  not  with  such 
silence  and  skill  but  that  everyone  knew  what  was  going  on.' ' 

'  Ustrialof,  vol.  i.  ch.  x.  ;  Solovief,  vol.  xiv.  ;  Posset,  Lefort,  vol.  i.  ; 
Gordon's  Diary ;  Bruckner,  Golizyn  ;  2.  A,  Bvfrvriov,  'H  Kuv<rTavTii>o6iro\is, 
Athens,  1851-69. 


XVIII. 

THE    FINAL    STRUGGLE    BETWEEN    SOPHIA  AND    PETER.  —  1G89. 

This  unfortunate  campaign  of  Golitsyn  was  the  turning 
point  in  the  struggle  between  the  aristocratic  party  and  the 
Government  of  Sophia.  The  boyars  had  gradually  been  getting 
stronger,  and  had  even  succeeded  in  forcing  their  way  into 
power  and  preferment.  One  of  the  Naryshkins  had  been  made 
a  boyar  shortly  before.  The  gravamen  of  any  charge  against 
Sophia  was  that  she  had  made  herself  the  equal  of  her  brothers, 
the  Tsars,  by  assuming  the  title  of  Autocrat,  in  commemoration 
of  the  peace  with  Poland.  So  long  as  her  government  had  been 
successful,  this  assumption  might  have  been  permitted,  but  now 
that  two  campaigns  had  shown  the  weakness  and  inefficiency  of 
the  regency,  now  that  the  aristocratic  party  was  strong  enough 
to  take  matters  into  its  own  hands,  this  could  be  used  as  an  ac- 
cusation against  her.  This  was  foreseen  by  others,  if  not  by 
Golitsyn  himself,  and  even  as  early  as  April  Yan  Keller  had 
written  to  Holland :  '  If  the  campaign  against  the  Tartars  shall 
be  no  more  successful  than  the  last,  there  will  probably  be  a 
general  rebellion,'  saying,  at  the  same  time,  that  he  dared  not 
write  much  lest  his  letters  should  be  opened. 

Another  point  of  accusation  against  Sophia,  although  at  this 
time  it  was  not  proved  that  there  was  anything  criminal  in  her 
design,  was  her  desire  to  have  herself  crowned  as  Empress  and 
Autocrat.  In  point  of  fact,  in  August,  1G87,  Shaklovity  had 
endeavoured  to  persuade  the  Streltsi  to  petition  the  Tsars  for 
the  coronation  of  the  Regent.  This,  however,  was  such  an  un- 
heard-of thing  that  the  Streltsi  received  the  proposition  coldly, 
and  no  more  was  done  at  that  time,  but  the  next  year  the  idea 
was  revived.  After  the  end  of  the  first  Crimean  campaign,  a 
Russian,  or  rather,  a  Polish  artist  from  Tchernigof,  named 
Tarasevitch,  engraved  a  portrait  of  Sophia,  together  with  her 


170  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

brothers,  and  also  a  portrait  of  Sophia  alone,  with  crown,  scep- 
tre and  globe ;  her  full  title  as  Grand  Duchess  and  Autocrat  en- 
circled the  portrait,  and  about  this,  in  the  style  of  the  portraits 
of  the  German  Emperors,  were  placed,  instead  of  the  portraits  of 
the  Electors,  the  symbolic  figures  of  the  seven  cardinal  virtues 
of  Sophia.  The  Monk  Sylvester  Medvedief  composed  an  inscrip- 
tion in  verse  of  twenty-four  lines,  in  which  the  Princess  was 
declared  to  be  the  equal  and  superior  of  the  Babylonian  Semi- 
ramis,  of  Elizabeth  of  England,  and  of  the  Greek  Pulcheria. 
Copies  of  these  portraits  were  printed  on  satin,  silk,  and  paper, 
and  were  distributed  in  Moscow.  ]STone  now  exist.  One  impres- 
sion was  sent  to  Amsterdam,  to  the  Burgomaster  Nicholas  Witsen, 
with  the  request  that  he  would  have  the  inscription  and  titles 
translated  into  Latin  and  German,  and  a  new  portrait  engraved 
in  Holland,  for  distribution  in  Europe.  Copies  of  this  engrav- 
ing reached  Russia  just  before  the  fall  of  Sophia,  and  were 
nearly  all  destroyed  by  order  of  Peter,  so  that  now  it  is  the 
greatest  rarity  among  Russian  historical  portraits.  Two  copies 
only  are  known  to  exist. 

A  sketch  of  Sophia,  written  by  De  Xeuville  in  this  very 
year,  1689,  will  perhaps  assist  us  in  forming  a  more  accurate 
idea  of  her : — 

'Her  mind  and  her  great  ability  bear  no  relation  to  the  de- 
formity of  her  person,  as  she  is  immensely  fat,  with  a  head  as 
large  as  a  bushel,  hairs  on  her  face  and  tumours  on  her  less, 
and  at  least  forty  years  old.  But  in  the  same  degree  that  her 
stature  is  broad,  short  and  coarse,  her  mind  is  shrewd,  unpre- 
judiced and  full  of  policy.' 

An  incident  which  occurred  about  the  time  of  the  return  of 
Golitsyn  shows,  in  a  measure,  the  position  of  affairs  at  Moscow 
about  this  time.  On  July  IS — the  festival  of  the  miraculous  ap- 
pearance of  the  Picture  of  the  Virgin  of  Kazan — there  was  a 
procession  in  which  the  Tsars  usually  took  part,  from  the  Kremlin 
to  the  Kazan  Cathedral,  founded  by  Prince  Pozharsky,  in  com- 
memoration of  the  delivery  of  Moscow  from  the  Poles.  The  Re- 
gent Sophia  appeared  in  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assumption  with 
her  two  brothers,  just  as  she  had  done  in  preceding  years.  On 
the  conclusion  of  the  liturgy,  Peter,  in  consequence  of  a  remark 
of  one  of  his  counsellors,  approached  his  sister  and  ordered  her 
not  to  walk  in  the  procession.     This  was  an  open  declaration  of 


Quantum  Jfcmas  ecuUs,  auaJiru*  in   are.Jraci    - 
CrJaec  eft-  ika    tuit jtrvmt/ia ', ^.ut^Prtta.  rejnit , 

Ppmgit*  at aerrmii  avoe  tueatur  avit  . 
•Wnilb  ~%aec  tuteia  tut  eft,  auarrt  frartjru*  Itsftu 

P  ,    .  /       "  ".        /■/    o 

()Urus    ap    aufniciij    ternt     cetsr*  ±dCmarc£j.t  . 

9uam  J'tetat,  attorn  Obcj  Atiaae    amfeia,    ddtrxu, 
^Famaoue  O?troin*o  cenfiemt   aJra,  e/urrp  - 

jgjjYjIjpiii 


<CTr-tx     fafi    J^r-uaeniii 


^/Jextera .       munert/u*       jzsvbfte/a      fut-4  . 

ihvutir   ma.jrr antmaj    tt/tantta.   marmara    cusv 

C.C    At    ao    <_/tuguft&    Temp-  4.    aUeata     mjtjt. 

Ja/Lt  ad  Suptiraten    nAJrrcrvra  S&ruramAj    a/ru 

C/J-i*     er-at   fee-pert     hcu*     £tf*6etQa  J3i-t'ta/teii 

Ou  lull-  iniuunvns    fitctvJu.Jtu****** 


THE   OFFENDING   PICTURE   OF   SOPHIA,  WITH  THE   INSCRIPTION  BY 
SYLVESTER   MEDVEDIEF. 


1689.] 


KUMOUKS   AND   SUSPICIONS. 


171 


war.  To  prevent  Sophia  from  appearing  in  public  at  a  state 
ceremony,  as  she  had  done  during  her  whole  regency,  meant  to 
remove  her  from  the  conduct  of  public  business.  She  accepted 
the  declaration  of  hostility,  but  refused  to  obey  the  command. 
She  took  from  the  Metropolitan  the  picture  of  the  Virgin,  and 
walked  after  the  crosses  and  banners.  Peter  angrily  left  the 
procession,  went  for  a  moment  into  the  Cathedral  of  St.  Michael 


Our  Lady  of  Kazan. 

the  Archangel,  and  immediately  afterwards  left  Moscow  and 
went  to  his  villa  at  Kolomenskoe. 

The  tension  of  the  two  parties  was  now  very  great,  and.  as 
always  in  such  cases,  private  individuals  loudly  expressed  their 
grievances,  their  hopes  and  their  fears.  Such  irresponsible  ut- 
terances were  naturally  exaggerated  by  rumour,  and  each  party 
was  convinced  that  the  other  was  threatening  and  had  an  in- 
tention of  attacking  it.     Extracts  from  Gordon's  diary  give  us 


172  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

some  slight  idea  of  the  feeling  then  prevalent.  On  August  7, 
he  writes :  '  Things  continue  to  have  a  bad  look,  as  they  prom- 
ised to  do  on  Saturday.'  On  the  9th :  '  The  heat  and  bitterness 
are  even  greater,  and  it  appears  that  they  will  soon  break  out.' 
On  the  16th  he  mentions  'rumours  unsafe  to  be  uttered.'  Both 
parties  naturally  took  up  a  defensive  position.  "Whatever  might 
be  their  suspicions  of  the  motives  and  intentions  of  their  op- 
ponents, it  was  safer,  with  the  forces  at  their  disposal,  to  meet 
an  attack  than  to  make  one,  and  at  the  same  time  the  moral  ef- 
fect was  stronger.  What  excuse  could  Peter  have  to  attack  his 
elder  brother  and  his  sister  in  the  Kremlin,  while  it  would  be 
very  difficult  to  get  even  the  Streltsi  to  assist  in  an  attack  on 
Preobrazhensky  ?  They  still  had  too  much  respect  for  the  per- 
son of  the  Lord's  anointed,  and  remembered  too  well  the 
consequences  of  the  riots  of  1682.  In  such  a  situation,  as 
everywhere,  both  parties  were  on  their  guard,  and  both  parties 
were  suspicious.  As  when  Sophia,  in  August,  1688,  went  to  visit 
Peter  at  Preobrazhensky,  on  the  occasion  of  the  benediction  of 
the  river  Yaiiza,  she  took  with  her  three  hundred  Streltsi  to  guard 
against  any  sudden  attack  of  his  guards,  so  now  on  St.  Anne's 
day,  when  Peter  wTas  expected  at  the  Kremlin  to  visit  his  aunt 
the  Princess  Anne,  at  the  Ascension  Convent,  Shaklovity  posted 
fifty  men  in  a  concealed  place  near  the  Ped  Staircase,  to  be 
ready  for  an  emergency.  The  Princess  Anne  had  long  been  an 
invalid  and  was  greatly  loved  and  respected  by  the  whole  Im- 
perial family,  especially  by  Peter.  Peter  came  from  Kolomen- 
skoe,  remained  several  hours  with  his  aunt  and  went  away  to 
Preobrazhensky,  and  there  was  no  need  of  alarm.  Xeverthe- 
less,  it  needed  but  a  spark  to  cause  a  general  explosion,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  it  came. 

In  order  to  strengthen  her  position,  Sophia  took  whatever 
occasion  offered  to  sound  the  Streltsi,  and  to  urge  them  to  be 
faithful  to  her  in  case  of  a  conflict.  Meeting  some  Streltsi  in 
the  church  of  the  Mantle  of  the  Virgin,  she  said :  '  Can  we 
endure  it  any  longer  \  Our  life  is  already  burdensome  through 
Boris  Golitsyn  and  Leo  Naryshkin.  They  have  had  the  room 
of  our  brother,  the  Lord  Ivan  Alexeievitch,  filled  up  with  fire- 
wood and  shavings,  and  they  have  desired  to  cut  off  the  head 
of  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn  who  has  done  so  much  good.  He 
made  peace  with  Poland  and  had  successes  on  the  Don ;  and  it 


1689.]  MUTUAL   DISTRUST.  173 

is  for  his  very  successes  that  they  hate  him.  Do  not  abandon 
us.  May  we  depend  upon  you  ?  If  we  are  unnecessary,  my 
brother  and  I  will  take  refuge  in  a  monastery.' 

'  Your  will  be  done,  O  lady,'  they  replied  ;  and  for  their 
acclamation  they  received  a  present  of  money.  It  was  by 
speeches  of  this  kind  and  frequent  gifts,  that  Sophia  attempted 
to  maintain  an  authority  and  influence  which  she  felt  to  be  grad- 
ually declining.  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  who  was  always  averse 
to  taking  decided  measures,  remained  quiet,  assisted  Sophia 
with  his  advice,  but  opposed  any  plans  of  open  attack  on  the 
party  of  boyars  who  surrounded  Peter,  and  thought  it  best  to 
await  events.  Shaklovity  was  much  more  decided.  lie  held 
frequent  meetings  with  those  Streltsi  in  whom  he  had  the 
greatest  confidence,  and  was  unsparing  in  his  denunciations  of 
the  party  of  Peter.  "While  not  absolutely  inciting  any  attempt 
against  Peter  himself,  he  constantly  suggested  the  possibility 
of  doing  away  with  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn  and  Leo  Naryshkin, 
and  sending  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia  into  a  convent  or  otherwise 
getting  rid  of  her.  In  order  to  encourage  his  supporters,  he 
professed  the  greatest  contempt  for  the  boyars  of  the  opposite 
party,  calling  them  all  '  withered  apples.' 

On  August  17th,  Sophia  ordered  a  small  body  of  Streltsi  to 
come  armed  to  the  Kremlin,  in  order  to  accompany  her  on  a 
pilgrimage  she  intended  making  to  the  Donskoy  Monastery. 
They  were  to  be  armed  because,  in  a  similar  pilgrimage  which 
she  had  made  a  few  days  before  to  another  convent  a  man  had 
been  killed  in  the  neighborhood  shortly  before  her  arrival. 
After  these  arrangements  were  made,  a  placard  or  anonymous 
letter  was  brought  to  the  palace,  stating  on  that  very  night,  the 
guards  from  Preobrazhensky  would  make  an  attack  on  the 
Kremlin.  Apparently,  no  inquiry  was  made  into  the  origin  of 
this  letter,  and  it  may  possibly  have  been  invented  by  Shaklov- 
ity, or  one  of  his  men,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  an  excuse  for 
a  larger  collection  of  Streltsi.  Still,  in  the  position  of  affairs, 
it  is  very  natural  that  Sophia  was  rendered  uneasy,  even  by  anon- 
ymous letters,  and  that  she  took  what,  under  the  circumstances, 
were  very  necessary  precautions.  Shaklovity  thereupon  col- 
lected many  more  Streltsi,  part  of  them  inside  the  Kremlin, 
others  in  the  old  town,  and  others  still  in  the  Lubianka  Place, 
outside  the  wall,  in  the  direction  of  Preobrazhensky.     Orders 


174  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

were  also  given  that  the  gates  of  the  Kremlin  should  be  closed 
all  night,  and  that  in  future  a  rope  should  be  tied  to  the  alarm 
bell  of  the  Cathedral,  so  that  it  could  be  pulled  from  the  palace, 
and  Shaklovity,  with  several  officers,  came  to  the  Kremlin  and 
slept  all  night  in  the  banqueting  hall.  The  orders  for  the  as- 
semblage of  the  Streltsi  in  the  old  town,  and  on  the  Lubianka, 
were  not  accurately  carried  out.  There  was  much  riding  to  and 
fro,  and  consequently  great  confusion,  as  no  one  knew  the  exact 
reasons  for  their  assembling,  and  Shaklovity  did  not  consider  it 
necessary  to  inform  them.  They  were  there  to  wait  for  orders 
— that  was  enough.  Some  explained  that  they  were  there  to 
protect  the  Kremlin  against  an  attack  from  Preobrazhensky, 
while  others  thought  they  were  to  march  that  night  against  the 
Xaryshkin  party. 

In  Preobrazhensky  there  was  also  much  excitement  in  con- 
sequence of  the  rumours  brought  from  Moscow.  Many  of 
Peters  adherents  had  gone  thither  during  the  day  and  many 
of  them  had  remained  there  during  the  night,  but  no  measures 
of  precaution  seem  to  have  been  taken,  and  there  was  no  ap- 
prehension of  an  immediate  attack.  During  the  night  Ples- 
tcheief,  one  of  Peter's  chamberlains,  brought  a  despatch  to  the 
Kremlin.  It  was  on  current  routine  business  and  had  nothing 
to  do  with  the  present  circumstances.  In  the  disorder  and  ex- 
citement which  prevailed  there,  especially  with  numbers  of 
soldiers  tired  of  waiting  and  eager  for  the  fray  to  begin,  this 
arrival  was  wrongly  interpreted,  and  one  of  the  Streltsi  named 
Gladky,  seized  on  Plestcheief,  dragged  him  from  his  horse,  tore 
away  his  sabre,  beat  him,  and  took  him  into  the  palace  to  Sha- 
klovity. 

Among  the  Streltsi,  and  even  among  the  confidants  of  Shak- 
lovity, Prince  Boris  Golitsyn  and  Leo  ^saryskin  had  succeeded 
in  gaining  over  a  number  of  men  to  serve  them  as  spies  and 
give  information  of  what  passed.  With  money,  with  promises, 
with  assurances  that  Peter  would  inevitably  come  into  power, 
and  that  in  the  end  it  would  be  far  more  profitable  to  serve 
than  to  oppose  him,  it  was  comparatively  easy  to  obtain  tools. 
Seven  men,  the  chief  of  whom  was  the  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Larion  Yelisarof,  had  orders  to  bring  immediate  information 
to  Preobrazhensky  of  any  decisive  step.  Yelisarof,  who  had 
been  given  by  Shaklovity  command  of   the   forces  stationed 


PETER  AWAKENED. 


1689.]  petek's  flight.  175 

that  night  on  the  Lubianka,  met  his  fellow-conspirators,  com- 
pelled the  sacristan  to  open  the  church  of  St.  Theodosius,  and 
called  up  a  priest,  when  they  all  took  solemn  oath  of  mutual 
fidelity  and  secrecy.  On  learning  from  one  of  them,  who  had 
been  sent  to  the  Kremlin  to  see  what  was  going  on,  that  Plest- 
eheief  had  been  pulled  from  his  horse  and  beaten,  they  appar- 
ently believed  that  the  crisis  had  come,  and  two  of  their  num- 
ber, Melnof  and  Ladogin  rode  at  full  speed  to  Preobrazhensky 
to  give  notice  of  the  murderous  attack  which  was  being  organ- 
ised against  Peter  and  his  mother.  They  arrived  a  little  after 
midnight.  Peter  was  awakened  out  of  a  sound  sleep  and  told 
to  run  for  his  life,  as  the  Streltsi  were  marching  against  him. 
In  his  night-dress  and  barefooted,  he  ran  to  the  stables,  had  a 
horse  quickly  saddled  and  rode  off  to  the  nearest  woods,  where 
he  directed  his  companions  to  bring  his  clothes  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble. Dressing  in  the  woods,  he  rode  in  haste  to  the  neighbor- 
ing village  of  Alexeievo,  and  thence  to  the  monastery  of  Tro- 
itsa,  where  he  arrived  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  so 
weary  that  he  had  to  be  lifted  from  his  horse  and  put  to  bed. 
Bursting  into  tears,  he  told  the  Abbot  of  his  sad  fate  and  of 
the  attack  his  sister  was  making  upon  him.  His  mother,  his 
wife,  and  his  sister,  attended  by  the  boyars  and  the  guards  of 
Preobrazhensky,  arrived  at  Troitsa  two  hours  later,  and  shortly 
after  came  the  Siikharef  regiment  of  Streltsi,  which  was  de- 
voted to  Peter,  and  to  which  Xaryshkin  and  Boris  Golitsyn 
had  immediately  sent  marching  orders. 

Meanwhile,  if  there  had  been  any  intention  in  the  Kremlin 
— which  is  very  doubtful — of  advancing  on  Preobrazhensky,  it 
had  been  given  up,  and  no  one  there,  except  the  seven  spies  of 
Peter,  knew  of  the  message  sent  to  Preobrazhensky.  Two 
hours  before  daylight,  the  Princess  Sophia  went  to  matins  at 
the  church  of  Our  Lady  of  Kazan,  accompanied  by  Shaklovfty 
and  many  Streltsi.  Yelisarof  himself  was  there,  and  to  a  re- 
mark made  by  one  of  the  scribes  attending  Shaklovfty,  that  it 
was  unusual  to  have  so  many  Streltsi  assembled  in  the  Kremlin 
at  night,  replied  simply  that  it  was  unusual,  nothing  of  the  kind 
having  been  done  before.  After  matins,  Sophia,  turning  to  the 
Streltsi  who  accompanied  her,  said  :  '  Except  for  my  alarms  and 
my  precautions  the  guards  would  have  murdered  all  of  us.'  On 
returning  from  church,  Shaklovfty  sent  a  message  to  Prince 


170  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

Basil  Golitsyn,  telling  him  that  the  Princess  wished  to  see  him. 
Golitsyn  excused  himself  on  the  ground  of  illness  and  remained 
at  home.  Very  shortly  afterwards,  the  messengers  sent  by 
Shaklovity  to  watch  on  the  road  to  Preobrazhensky  for  the 
movements  of  Peter's  adherents,  two  of  whom  had  been  among 
those  bought  up  by  the  Xaryshkins,  returned  as  if  they  had 
faithfully  performed  their  mission,  and  reported  that  Peter  had 
ridden  away  in  the  night,  barefooted,  with  nothing  on  but  his 
shirt,  and  that  none  knew  whither  he  had  fled.  '  He  has 
plainly  gone  mad,'  said  Shaklovity ;  '  let  him  run.'  When 
Shaklovity  said  this,  it  was  very  possible  he  did  not  feel  the 
full  force  of  the  effect  of  Peter's  escape  from  his  fictitious  dan- 
ger. Put  it  did  not  require  a  long  reflection  to  show  Sophia 
and  her  counsellors  that  a  most  decisive  step  had  been  taken. 
Sophia  herself  had  shown  the  advantages  of  a  refuge  at  Troitsa 
in  the  affair  with  Prince  Havansky.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
induce  the  Streltsi  to  march  against  a  monastery  of  such  sanc- 
tity as  Troitsa,  and  against  their  anointed  rnler.  Peter  would 
have  the  support  of  the  country  at  large,  as  Sophia  had  pre- 
viously had,  and  would  eventually  be  able  to  dictate  his  own 
terms.  The  flight  to  Troitsa  had  been  prepared  beforehand 
by  Boris  Golitsyn  and  Xaryshkin,  and  everything  had  been 
arranged  in  view  of  an  emergency.  It  was  a  great  stroke  of 
policy,  but  it  was  only  saved  from  being  also  a  comedy  by  Peter's 
plain  good  faith — by  his  manifest  ignorance  of  the  plans  of  his 
friends,  and  by  his  evident  fright  when  he  was  told  that  an 
attack  was  imminent.  Although  the  flight  had  been  arranged 
beforehand — although  the  information  given  by  Yelisarof  and 
his  companions  of  the  expected  attack  was  false — we  are  not 
necessarily  to  suppose  that  it  was  arranged  for  this  very  night. 
The  plan  was  that  Peter  should  escape  to  Troitsa  whenever  the 
emergency  made  it  necessary ;  and  it  was  the  zeal  of  Yelisarof 
and  his  companions  to  earn  their  reward  which  incited  them 
to  send  such  startling  news  with  such  little  foundation.  The 
struggle  between  the  two  parties  could  no  longer  have  been 
avoided,  but  it  might  have  been  a  struggle  of  a  very  different 
character. 

The  next  day,  August  19,  Peter  sent  a  messenger  to  his 
brother  and  sister,  inquiring  the  reason  of  the  great  assemblage 
of  Streltsi  in  the  Kremlin.     The  answer  was  that  the  Streltsi 


1689.]  PETER   AT  TROITSA.  177 

were  assembled  for  the  simple  purpose  of  accompanying  Prin- 
cess Sophia  to  the  Donskoy  Monastery.  No  other  reason  could 
he  given,  for  it  was  impossible  to  say  that  the  Streltsi  were 
brought  together  in  apprehension  of  an  attack.  It  was  equally 
natural  that  this  answer  was  in  the  highest  degree  unsatisfac- 
tory, and  gave  the  party  of  Peter  an  additional  strength,  be- 
cause it  seemed  to  everyone  equivocal.  Immediately  afterwards, 
Peter  sent  a  request  for  the  presence  of  Colonel  Zickler  and 
fifty  Streltsi.  After  some  hesitation,  Zickler  was  sent  with 
fifty  men  carefully  selected  from  those  who  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  affairs  of  the  Government.  It  subsequently  became  known 
that  this  was  a  little  intrigue  of  Zickler,  who  had  been  one  of 
the  chief  men  in  the  first  revolt  of  the  Streltsi  in  May,  1682, 
and  who,  hoping  to  win  favour  with  Peter,  who  was  strong  and 
whose  claims  seemed  to  be  in  the  ascendant,  had  sent  word  by 
a  friend  to  have  him  called  to  Troitsa.  As  soon  as  he  arrived, 
he  revealed  all  that  he  knew  and  gave  in  writing  copies  of  all 
secret  orders  which,  to  his  knowledge,  had  been  given  to  the 
Streltsi  and  officers.  Immediately  afterwards,  Yelisarof,  Mel- 
nof  and  others  of  Peter's  spies  succeeded  in  making  their  way 
to  Troitsa,  where  they  gave  such  information  and  made  such 
denunciations  as  they  could.  Sophia,  in  particular  trouble  of 
mind,  resolved  to  attempt  a  reconciliation,  and  sent  to  Troitsa 
Prince  Ivan  Troekiirof,  whose  son  was  an  intimate  friend  of 
Peter,  charging  him  to  persuade  her  brother  to  return  to  Mos- 
cow. This  was  the  only  way  of  ending  the  quarrel  honourably 
for  her  and  of  preserving  some  semblance  of  power  and  dignity. 
Peter's  friends,  however,  saw  that  this  was  inadvisable  for  them, 
and  that  the  advantages  he  possessed  by  remaining  at  Troitsa 
he  might  lose  by  being  at  Moscow.  Troekiirof  returned  .with 
news  by  no  means  reassuring.  Immediately  afterwards,  there 
followed  written  orders  from  Peter  to  the  colonel  of  each  regi- 
ment of  the  Streltsi  and  of  the  regular  soldiers,  commanding 
him  to  make  his  appearance  at  Troitsa  before  August  30,  ac- 
companied by  ten  of  his  men.  These  orders  were  the  subject  of 
a  council  at  the  Kremlin,  and  ultimately  the  picked  men  of  each 
regiment  were  called  together  and  told  not  to  go  to  Troitsa,  nor 
to  meddle  in  the  dispute  between  Sophia  and  her  brother.  The 
colonels  still  hesitated  and  said  their  going  to  Troitsa  would 
make  no  difference  in  the  position  of  affairs.  Sophia,  hearing 
Vol.  I.— 12 


178  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

of  this,  came  out  again  and  said  very  decisively  to  the  colonels 
that,  if  any  one  of  them  attempted  to  go  to  the  Tro'itsa  Monas- 
tery, lie  would  immediately  lose  his  head.  Prince  Golitsyn 
gave  a  positive  command  to  General  Gordon  not  to  leave  Mos- 
cow  <>ii  any  order  or  under  any  excuse.  Sext  day  Peter  sent 
word  to  Ivan  and  Sophia  that  he  had  sent  for  the  officers  of  the 
Streltsi,  and  requested  a  compliance  with  his  orders.  Prince 
Prosordfsky,  the;  tutor  of  Ivan,  together  with  Peter's  confessor, 
were  sent  to  Tro'itsa  with  instructions  to  give  reasons  why  the 
officers  were  not  allowred  to  go,  and  to  make  another  attempt  at 
conciliation.  They  returned  two  days  after,  without  having 
been  able  to  accomplish  their  mission,  and  reports  were  spread 
through  Moscow  that  the  orders  for  the  journey  of  the  colonels 
to  Troitsa  had  been  given  withont  the  know  ledge  of  the  Tsar. 

Shaklovity  sent  spies  to  Tro'itsa  to  ascertain  what  wTas  going 
on  there.  Some  were  caught ;  those  who  returned  brought 
him  anything  but  comforting  intelligence.  An  endeavour  was 
then  made  to  work  on  the  feelings  of  the  wives  and  families  of 
the  Streltsi,  that  they  might  induce  those  men  who  were  at 
Tro'itsa  to  return,  especially  the  soldiers  of  the  Siikharef  regi- 
ment. These  tentatives  however  were  vain  and  more  and  more 
people  went  to  Tro'itsa  every  da}".  Finally,  Sophia  persuaded 
the  Patriarch  to  go  to  Tro'itsa  and  try  to  bring  about  a  recon- 
ciliation. The  Patriarch  Joachim  was  probably  very  ready  to 
abandon  the  camp  of  those  who  were  really  his  enemies.  Though 
lie  had  supported  the  Government  of  Sophia,  he  was  by  his 
family — the  Saveliefs — closely  connected  with  the  aristocratic 
party  and  had  never  been  in  the  most  cordial  relations  with 
Sophia's  immediate  adherents.  lie  especially  hated  Sylvester 
Medvedief,  and  had  reasons  for  being  suspicious  of  Shaklovity. 
As  soon  as  he  reached  Tro'itsa  he  was  shown  the  revelations  of 
the  spies,  and  the  confessions  obtained  by  torture  from  the  pris- 
oners, in  which  mention  was  made  of  plots  not  only  against  the 
life  of  Peter,  but  against  his  own.  This  convinced  him.  He 
believed  without  further  inquiry,  and  remained  in  Tro'itsa,  thus 
openly  taking  the  side  of  Peter.  After  a  few  days'  waiting,  on 
September  0,  still  more  urgent  letters  were  sent  to  Moscow,  ad- 
dressed  not  only  to  the  Streltsi,  but  also  directly  to  the  people, 
ordering  the  immediate  appearance  at  Troitsa  of  the  colonels 
and  ten  of  their  men,  together  with  deputies  from  each  class  of 


1689.]  SOPHIA  STABTS    FOE  TKorrsA.  171) 

the  population.  Disobedience  was  punishable  with  death.  In 
the  disturbed  state  of  the  city,  agitated  by  constant  rumours, 
these  letters  produced  a  very  great  impression.  It  became  ap- 
parent that  the  Troitsa  party  would  win.  A  crowd  of  Streltsi, 
with  five  colonels,  marched  to  Troitsa.  They  were  received  by 
the  Tsar  and  the  Patriarch,  who  stated  to  them  the  results  of 
the  investigation  into  the  alleged  plot,  urged  them  to  confess 
all  they  knew,  and  promised  them  pardon.  The  Streltsi  with 
one  voice  affirmed  their  allegiance  to  Peter's  Government,  dis- 
claimed any  intention  of  insubordination,  and  denied  all  knowl- 
edge of  any  plot  or  conspiracy.  Two  men  only  accused  Shak- 
lovity  of  plots  against  the  Tsar. 

Finally,  Sophia  resolved  as  a  last  effort  at  conciliation  to  go 
herself  to  Troitsa  and  seek  a  personal  explanation  with  her 
brother.  Taking  with  her  an  image  of  the  Saviour,  she  set 
out  from  Moscow  on  September  8,  accompanied  by  Prince  Basil 
Golitsyn,  Shaklovity,  Xepluief  and  a  guard  of  Streltsi.  She 
halted  about  eight  miles  from  Troitsa,  in  the  village  of  Vozd- 
vizhenskoe,  where  Ilavansky  had  been  executed,  and  was  met 
by  the  chamberlain,  Ivan  Buturlin,  with  the  order  not  to  come 
to  the  monastery.  '  I  shall  certainly  go,'  replied  Sophia,  angrily, 
but  afterwards  Prince  Troekiirof  appeared,  with  a  threat  from 
Peter  that,  if  she  should  be  bold  enough  to  come,  she  would  be 
treated  as  perhaps  she  might  not  like.  Disappointed  and  furi- 
ous with  anger,  Sophia  immediately  returned  to  Moscow,  which 
she  reached  on  the  night  of  September  11,  and  two  hours  be- 
fore dawn  sent  for  the  most  faithful  of  her  adherents.  Telling 
them  of  the  insults  she  had  received,  she  said:  'They  almost 
shot  me  at  Yozdvizhenskoe.  Many  people  rode  out  after  me 
with  arquebuses  and  bows.  It  was  with  difficulty  I  got  away, 
and  I  hastened  to  Moscow  in  five  hours.  The  Xaryshkins  and 
the  Lopiikhins  are  making  a  plot  to  kill  the  Tsar  Ivan  Alexeie- 
vitch,  and  are  even  aiming  at  my  head.  I  will  collect  the  regi- 
ments and  will  talk  to  them  myself.  Obey  us,  and  do  not  go 
to  Troitsa.  I  trust  in  you  ;  in  whom  should  I  trust  rather  than 
you,  O  faithful  adherents !  Will  you  also  run  away  \  Kiss  the 
cross  first,'  and  Sophia  herself  held  out  the  cross  for  them  to 
kiss.  'Xow,  if  you  run  away,'  she  added,  'the  life-giving  cross 
will  not  let  you  go.  Whatever  letters  come  from  Troitsa,  do 
not  read  them  ;  bring  them  to  the  palace/ 


180  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

The  same  day,  Colonel  Evan  Netchaef  came  from  Troitsa  to 
Moscow  with  letters,  both  to  Ivan  and  to  Sophia,  containing  an 
official  statement  of  the  plot  against  Peter's  life,  and  with  a 
demand  that  ShaHovity,  the  monk  Sylvester  Medvedief  and 
other  accomplices  should  he  immediately  arrested  and  sent  to 
Troitsa  for  trial.  This  produced  very  great  confusion  in  the 
palace  and  general  disturbance  among  the  people.  Sophia  asked 
Netchaef  how  he  dared  take  upon  himself  such  a  commission. 
lie  answered  that  he  did  not  dare  to  disobey  the  Tsar.  The 
Princess,  in  her  rage,  ordered  his  head  to  be  struck  oif  at 
once,  a  command  which  would  probably  have  been  faithfully 
fulfilled  had  an  executioner  been  found  at  hand.  The  Streltsi 
who  had  escorted  Netchaef  from  Troitsa  were  ordered  to  pre- 
sent themselves  in  the  court  of  the  palace,  together  with  those 
ether  Streltsi  who  happened  to  be  at  the  Kremlin.  Sophia 
went  out  to  them  and  made  a  long  and  earnest  speech,  in  the 
course  of  which  she  said : 

'  Evil-minded  people  have  consented  to  act  as  tools.  They 
have  used  all  means  to  make  me  and  the  Tsar  Ivan  quarrel  with 
my  younger  brother.  They  have  sown  discord,  jealousy  and 
trouble.  They  have  hired  people  to  talk  of  a  plot  against  the 
life  of  the  younger  Tsar,  and  of  other  people.  Out  of  jealousy 
of  the  great  services  of  Theodore  Shaklovity,  and  of  his  con- 
stant care,  day  and  night,  for  the  safety  and  prosperity  of  the 
empire,  they  have  given  him  out  to  be  the  chief  of  the  con- 
spiracy, as  if  one  existed.  To  settle  the  matter  and  to  find 
out  the  reason  for  this  accusation,  I  went  myself  to  Troitsa,  but 
was  kept  back  by  the  advice  of  the  evil  councillors  whom  my 
brother  has  about  him,  and  was  not  allowed  to  go  farther. 
After  being  insulted  in  this  way,  I  was  obliged  to  come  home. 
You  all  well  know  how  I  have  managed  for  these  seven  year.- ; 
how  I  took  on  myself  the  regency  in  the  most  unquiet  times ; 
how  I  have  concluded  a  famous  and  true  peace  with  the  Chris- 
tian rulers,  our  neighbours,  and  how  the  enemies  of  the  Christian 
religion  have  been  brought  by  my  arms  into  terror  and  confusion. 
V<>v  your  services  you  have  received  great  reward  and  I  have 
always  sh<  >wn  you  my  favour.  I  cannot  believe  that  you  will  be- 
tray me  and  will  believe  the  inventions  of  enemies  of  the  general 
peace  and  prosperity.  It  is  not  the  life  of  Theodore  Shaklovity 
that  they  want,  but  my  life  and  that  of  my  elder  brother." 


SOPHIA'S  APPEAX   TO    HEB    PARTISANS. 


1689.]  THE  END   COMES.  181 

She  concluded  by  promising  to  reward  those  who  should  re- 
main faithful,  and  who  should  not  mix  in  the  matter ;  and 
threatened  to  punish  those  who  should  be  disobedient  and  assist 
in  creating  confusion.  Then  the  notables  of  the  burghers  and 
of  the  common  people  were  sent  for,  and  Sophia  addressed 
them  in  a  similar  tone.  A  third  time,  on  the  same  day,  she 
called  them  all  together  and  made  them  '  a  long  and  fine 
speech,'  as  Gordon  calls  it,  in  the  same  spirit.  As  the  Patriarch 
was  away  and  the  elder  Tsar  was  not  in  perfect  health,  all  the 
preparations  for  the  festival  of  the  Xew  Year,  which  occurred 
on  this  day,  the  11th  (1st  O.  S.)  of  September,  were  abandoned  ; 
vodka  was  given  to  the  Streltsi ;  the  chief  nobles  and  the  for- 
eigners were  asked  to  wait  awhile,  and  about  noon  received  a 
cup  of  vodka  from  the  hand  of  the  elder  Tsar.  Meanwhile,  the 
wrath  of  Sophia  against  Xetchaef  had  passed  away.  She  sent 
for  him,  pardoned  him,  and  was  gracious  enough  to  offer  him 
also  a  cup  of  vodka.  Some  of  the  Streltsi  whose  surrender  had 
been  demanded  by  Peter  were  concealed  by  their  comrades ; 
Shaklovity  found  refuge  in  the  palace  of  Sophia ;  Medvedief 
and  some  others  ran  away.  It  was  reported,  nevertheless,  that 
the  Tsar  Peter  had  promised  to  spare  the  lives  of  those  persons 
in  case  they  surrendered. 

The  next  day,  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn,  who,  as  Peter's  chief 
counsellor,  had  the  management  of  affairs  at  Tro'itsa,  sent  a 
counsel  to  his  relative,  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  to  come  to  Tro'itsa 
and  '  preoccupate  the  Tsar's  favour.'  Basil  Golitsyn  replied  by 
sending  a  scribe  to  his  cousin  to  ask  him  to  be  the  means  of  re- 
conciliation between  the  two  parties.  The  answer  was,  that 
the  best  thing  he  could  do,  in  any  case  for  himself,  was  to  come 
as  soon  as  possible  to  Tro'itsa,  being  assured  of  a  good  recep- 
tion from  Peter.  But  honour  and  duty  both  forbade  him  to 
leave  the  side  of  Sophia. 

In  spite  of  the  orders  which  had  come  from  Tro'itsa  to  the 
Streltsi  to  keep  quiet  and  make  no  disturbance,  and  in  spite  of 
the  requests  made  to  them  by  Sophia,  they  began  to  fret  at  this 
long  period  of  commotion,  so  that  Sophia  finally  gave  out  that 
she  with  her  brother  Ivan  would  again  try  to  go  to  Tro'itsa. 
The  Streltsi  at  Tro'itsa  were  anxious  to  return  to  Moscow,  prom- 
ising to  win  the  others  to  their  side  ;  and  many  officers  of  Peter 
thought  it  would  be  better  for  him  to  transfer  himself  to  Preo- 


182  PETEE  THE   GREAT. 

brazhensky,  Alexeievo,  <>r  some  otlier  village  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood  of  Moscow,  where  his  adherents  would  be  greatly 
increased  without  danger  to  himself.  Golftsynand  Naryshkin, 
however,  feared  bloodshed,  and  it  was  thought  better  to  remain 
at  Trortsa.  ( >u  September  14,  there  was  brought  to  the  German 
suburb  a  rescript  to  all  the  generals,  colonels,  and  other  foreign 
officers  <  alth<  >ugh  no  one  was  mentioned  by  name),  giving  a  brief 
statement  of  the  conspiracy  of  Shaklovity,  Medvedief,  and  ten 
Streltsi  against  the  Tsar,  the  Patriarch,  the  Tsaritsa  .Natalia 
and  several  distinguished  boyars,  and  announcing  that  an  order 
had  been  given  for  the  arrest  of  the  persons  implicated,  and 
commanding  furthermore  all  officers  into  whose  hands  this  re- 
script should  come  to  appear  at  Tro'itsa,  fully  armed  and  on 
horseback.  This  paper  was  received  by  Colonel  Ridder,  who 
brought  it  to  General  Gordon,  and  the  latter  called  together  all 
the  foreign  generals  and  colonels  and  in  their  presence  unsealed 
the  packet.  On  consultation,  it  was  resolved  to  communicate  it 
to  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn.  lie  was  much  disturbed,  but,  appear- 
ing as  calm  as  he  could,  said  he  would  report  it  to  the  elder  Tsar 
and  the  Princess,  and  would  send  him  word  how  to  act.  Gor- 
don remarked  that  they  risked  their  heads  in  case  of  disobe- 
dience. The  boyar  replied  that  he  would  certainly  give  an  an- 
swer by  evening,  and  asked  him  to  let  his  son-in-law,  Colonel 
Strasburg,  wait  at  the  palace  for  it.  Gordon  made  preparations 
for  immediate  departure,  and  told  everyone  who  asked  his  ad- 
vice that,  no  matter  what  the  order  might  be,  he  was  resolved 
to  go.  The  other  foreign  officers  followed  his  example.  They 
set  out  that  evening  and  arrived  at  Tro'itsa  the  next  morning, 
where  they  wrere  given  an  audience  of  Peter  and  allowed  to  kiss 
his  hand.  The  departure  of  the  foreign  officers  from  Moscow 
practically  decided  the  contest.  Sophia,  on  receiving  informa- 
tion that  she  would  not  be  allowed  to  go  to  Tro'itsa,  was  very 
indignant,  and  did  not  wish  to  give  her  consent  to  the  surrender 
of  Shaklovity.  The  Streltsi,  who  had  begun  to  see  the  impru- 
dence of  their  long  support  of  Sophia,  came  in  crowds  to  the 
palace  and  asked  that  Shaklovity  might  be  given  up,  offering  to 
take  him  to  Tro'itsa  themselves.  The  Regent  refused  absolutely, 
and  again  besought  them  not  to  meddle  in  the  quarrel  bet-ween 
her  and  her  brother.  The  Streltsi  were  discontented  with  this; 
voices  were  raised  in  the  crowd,  saying;  '  Von  had  better  finish 


1089.]  OFFENSES   OF   GOLPTSYN.  183 

the  matter  at  once.  If  you  do  not  give  liini  up,  we  shall  sound 
the  alarm  hell.'  This  cry  stupefied  Sophia,  who  saw  that  it 
was  all  over.  Those  who  surrounded  her  feared  violence,  and 
told  her  that  it  was  in  vain  to  oppose;  this  demand  ;  that  in  case 
of  a  rising  many  people  would  he  killed,  and  it  would  he  better 
to  give  him  up.  She  reluctantly  gave  her  consent,  and  Shak- 
lovity,  who  up  to  this  time  had  heen  concealed  in  the  palace 
chapel,  received  the  Eucharist  and  was  sent  to  Troi'tsa  that 
night,  September  IT,  with  the  Streltsi  who  had  come  for  him. 
Those  hoyars  who  had,  up  to  that  time,  remained  in  Moscow, 
all  took  their  leave  for  Troi'tsa,  except  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn, 
who  retired  to  his  villa  of  Medviedkovo,  where  the  news  of  the 
surrender  of  Shaklovity  greatly  disturbed  him.  JjUaklovfty,  on 
his  arrival,  was  straightway  put  to  the  torture  of  the  knout. 
After  the  first  fifteen  blows  he  made  a  confession,  in  which, 
however,  he  denied  that  there  was  any  plot  whatever  against 
the  life  of  the  Tsar  Peter,  and  that  any  plans  had  ever  been 
concocted  for  the  murder  of  the  Tsaritsa  ISatalia,  the  Narysh- 
kins  or  the  boyars  of  Peter's  party,  although  the  subject  had 
been  mentioned  in  conversation.  The  same  day,  Prince  Basil 
Golitsyn,  Xepliiief  and  others  of  his  adherents  presented  them- 
selves at  Troi'tsa.  They  were  not  allowed  to  come  within  the 
walls  of  the  monastery  but  were  ordered  to  remain  in  the  village 
outside.  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  Golitsyn  and  his  son 
Alexis  were  ordered  to  come  to  the  abode  of  the  Tsar.  'When 
they  appeared  on  the  staircase  they  were  met  by  a  councillor, 
who  read  to  them  an  order  depriving  them  of  the  rank  of 
boyar,  and  sending  them,  with  their  wives  and  children,  into 
exile  at  Kargopol,  and  confiscating  all  their  property,  on  the 
ground  that  they  had  reported  to  the  sister  of  the  Tsars  with- 
out reporting  to  the  Tsars  personally ;  that  they  had  written  her 
name  in  papers  and  despatches  on  an  equality  with  that  of  the 
Tsars,  and  also  because  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  by  his  conduct  in 
the  Crimean  expedition  of  1689,  had  caused  harm  to  the  Gov- 
ernment and  burdens  to  the  people.1 


'Solovief,  xiv.  ;  Ustriaiof,  II.  ch.  ii,  iii.  ;  Pogodin,  160-204;  Medvedief's 
Memoirs;  De  Neuville  ;  Posselt,  Lejort ;  Gordon's  Diary  ;  Aristof;  Reports 
of  Dutch  Residents  ;  De  Rovinsky,  Human  Engraved  Portraits  (Russian),  St. 
Petersburg,  1872 ;  Briicker,  Golizyn  ;  id.  Peter  der  Orosse. 


XIX. 

VICTORY  AND  VENGEANCE. 

There  had  been  great  disputes  among  the  friends  of  Peter 
about  Golitsyn.  Precedence  had  still  left  its  traces.  Time  had 
not  yet  sufficiently  elapsed  for  the  new  system  to  come  into  play. 
The  condemnation  of  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn  for  treason  would 
have  been  a  disgrace  to  the  whole  family,  and  Boris  Golitsyn 
was  therefore  anxious  to  save  his  cousin,  himself,  and  his  family 
from  such  a  calamity.  But  the  enemies  of  Golitsyn  did  their 
best  by  exciting  Peter's  anger  to  render  his  fate  harder.  After 
Shaklovity  had  been  tortured  once,  and  when  he  was  expecting 
his  second  trial,  he  determined  to  give  the  Tsar,  in  writing,  an 
exact  account  of  the  whole  matter.  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn 
himself  took  him  paper  and  pen.  Shaklovity  wrote  eight  or 
nine  sheets,  and  as  it  was  after  midnight  when  he  had  finished 
and  the  Tsar  had  gone  to  bed,  Prince  Boris  took  the  papers 
home  with  him,  intending  to  give  them  to  the  Tsar  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning.  The  enemies  of  Boris  Golitsyn,  especially 
the  Xarvshkins,  who  carefully  followed  all  his  movements, 
hastened  to  report  to  Peter  that  the  Prince  had  taken  away  the 
confession  of  Shaklovity,  with  the  intention  of  taking  out  all  that 
reflected  on  his  cousin  Basil.  The  Tsar  immediately  sent  to 
Shaklovity  to  ask  whether  he  had  written  a  confession,  and  ascer- 
tained that  he  had  given  it  to  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn.  The  latter, 
however,  was  luckily  informed  by  a  friend  of  the  impending 
catastrophe,  and  hastened  with  the  papers  to  the  Tsar,  who  asked, 
in  a  threatening  tone,  why  he  had  not  presented  them  im- 
mediately. Golitsyn  replied  that  it  was  too  late  at  night,  which 
satisfied  Peter,  who  continued,  as  before,  to  keep  Golitsyn  in 
his  confidence,  although  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  and  her.  friends 
were  still  hostile  to  him. 


1689.]  EXILE  OF  GOliTSYN.  185 

After  listening  to  his  sentence,  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn  wished 
to  hand  to  the  councillor  who  read  it  to  him  an  explanation,  in 
which  he  had  briefly  set  forth  the  services  he  had  rendered  to 
the  Government  during  the  time  he  had  taken  a  part  in  public 
affairs.  He  wished  to  be  allowed  to  write  this  to  the  Tsar 
or  to  the  council,  but  the  councillor  did  not  dare  receive  it. 
Golitsyn  afterward  found  some  way  of  having  it  presented  to  the 
Tsar,  but  it  produced  no  effect.  Xepliiief  was  condemned  to  exile 
in  Pustozersk  (afterward  changed  to  Kola),  ostensibly  for  his 
harsh  treatment  of  the  soldiers  under  his  command,  and  was 
deprived  of  his  rank  and  property.  Zmeief  was  ordered  to 
reside  on  his  estate  in  Kostroma,  while  Kosogof  and  Ukramtsef 
were  retained  in  their  former  posts.  These  noblemen  went 
back  to  their  quarters,  when  they  were  advised  by  some  of 
their  friends  at  court  to  start  immediately  for  their  places  of 
exile.  This  they  did,  but  rumours  were  immediately  spread 
that  they  had  run  away,  and  they  were  sent  for  and  finally  sent 
off  under  guard,  Golitsyn's  enemies  still  attacked  him,  and 
insisted  that  banishment  to  Kargopol  was  too  light  a  punish- 
ment, and  that  he  should  be  sent  to  Pustozersk.  Finallv,  the 
place  of  his  exile  was  changed  to  Yarensk,  a  wretched  village 
in  the  province  of  Archangel,  but  much  better  than  Pus- 
tozersk, where  Matveief  had  lived  so  long.  Golitsyn's  enemies 
still  insisted  that  he  should  undergo  examination  and  torture, 
and  finally  an  official  was  sent  out  to  meet  him  at  Yaroslav. 
He  was  again  examined,  although  he  escaped  torture.  He  con- 
fessed to  no  complicity  in  any  plot  or  conspiracy,  and  stated 
that  he  was  not  in  any  way  an  intimate  friend  of  Shaklovitv, 
but  merely  an  acquaintance.  His  suite  was  diminished,  he  was 
allowed  altogether  only  fifteen  persons,  the  money,  furniture, 
and  clothes  with  which  he  started  were  taken  away  from  him, 
and  orders  were  given  that  he  should  be  kept  closely  guarded 
on  the  journey  and  not  permitted  to  speak  to  anybody.  In 
Vologda  he  was  met  by  the  Chamberlain,  Prince  Kropotkin, 
not,  however,  with  any  further  orders  from  the  Government, 
but  with  a  tender  message  from  Sophia,  who  hoped  soon  to 
procure  his  release,  through  the  intercession  of  the  Tsar  Ivan, 
and  who  sent  him  a  packet  of  money  for  the  journey.  With 
great  difficulty  in  the  wintry  weather  he  reached  Yarensk  in 


180  PETEE  THE   GREAT. 

January,  but  even  here  he  was  pursued  by  new  denunciations, 
had  to  submit  to  fresh  examinations,  and  finally  was  removed, 
first  to  Pustozersk,  and  later  to  Pinega,  where,  after  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  of  wretched  existence — his  numerous  peti- 
tions for  mercy  being  disregarded — he  died  in  1714. 

Shaklovity  and  his  accomplices  were  condemned  to  death. 
It  was  reported  that  Peter  was  utterly  averse  to  this  sentence, 
and  only  yielded  on  the  insistence  of  the  Patriarch.  When  it 
was  known  that  Shaklovity  was  to  be  punished  without  under- 
going a  second  torture,  many  of  the  officials  collected  in  the 
monastery  and  petitioned  that  Shaklovity  should  be  again  tor- 
tured, that  he  might  be  forced  to  declare  all  his  accomplices. 
The  Tsar,  however,  sent  word  to  them  that  he  himself  was 
satisfied  with  the  confessions  of  Shaklovity,  and  it  was  not  for 
them  to  meddle  in  this  affair.  The  investigation  of  the  plot — 
so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  the  fragmentary  papers  which  have 
come  down  to  us — does  not  seem  to  have  been  very  careful. 
Reliance  was  chiefly  placed  on  the  denunciations  of  Yelisarof 
and  his  band,  and  on  the  evidence  obtained  by  torture.  The 
evidence  is  very  contradictory  ;  and,  apart  from  that,  very  little 
reliance  can  be  placed  on  confessions  obtained  in  this  way. 
There  was  apparently  no  cross-examination  of  the  denouncers, 
and  in  very  few  cases  were  they  confronted  with  the  accused. 
Yet,  notwithstanding  all  this,  very  few  persons  were  found  to 
be  actually  guilty,  and  even  the  extent  of  their  guilt  is  very 
doubtful.  There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  plot  for  the 
murder  of  Peter,  although  attempts  had  been  made  to  excite 
the  Streltsi  against  Peter's  friends,  and  in  private  it  had  been 
hinted  that  it  would  be  an  advantage  if  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia, 
the  Naryshkms,  and  two  or  three  others  of  the  nobles  were  out 
of  the  way.  In  no  case  was  the  Princess  Sophia  at  all  impli- 
cated by  the  testimony,  although  it  is  very  probable  that  she 
knew  of  what  had  been  going  on — that  is,  of  the  attempts  to 
excite  the  Streltsi.  She  was  ambitious ;  the  habit  of  power 
had  fed  the  love  of  it ;  and  she  would  doubtless  have  been  glad 
to  take  advantage  of  a  successful  rising,  by  which  she  might 
have  contrived  to  retain  for  some  time  to  come  a  certain  share 
of  the  supreme  authority. 

On  September  21,  Shaklovity,  Petrof,  and  Tchermny  were 


1689.]  OTHER  PUNISHMENTS.  187 

beheaded.  Major  Muromtsef,  Colonel  liiazantsef,  and  the  pri- 
vate Lavrentief  were  beaten  with  the  knout,  and  after  having 
their  tongues  torn  out,  were  exiled  to  Siberia.  Sylvester  Med- 
vedief liad  escaped  from  Moscow,  and  had  gone  toward  the 
Polish  frontier,  where  he  was  arrested  in  the  monastery  of  Bi- 
ziuk,  together  with  Major  Gladky,  and  sent  to  Tro'itsa.  When 
tortured,  he  refused  to  confess  himself  guilty  of  conspiracy,  ad- 
mitted that  he  had  heard  proposals  against  the  lives  of  some  of 
Peter's  adherents,  but  asserted  that  he  had  threatened  those 
who  spoke  in  such  wise  with  ruin  in  this  life  and  hell-fire  in  the 
life  to  come  if  they  should  engage  in  any  such  attempt :  lie 
denied  that  he  had  committed  any  act  whatever  against  the 
Government,  or  had  any  designs  against  the  Patriarch ;  but  he 
admitted  having  written  an  inscription  with  complimentary 
verses  for  the  engraved  portrait  of  Sophia.  He  was  degraded 
from  the  clerg}-,  and  was  placed  in  a  monastery  under  strict 
surveillance.  Here  he  was  induced  to  retract  the  views  ex- 
pressed in  his  book  on  religion,  called  '  The  Heavenly  Manna.' 
He  was  subsequently  again  denounced  by  Strizhof,  who  had 
been  in  the  confidence  of  Shaklovity,  and  who  accused  him  of 
having  been  in  league  with  a  Polish  sorcerer  who  had  come  to 
Moscow  to  cure  the  eyes  of  the  Tsar  Ivan  ;  that  there  they  had 
told  him  of  the  approaching  marriage  of  Sophia  to  Prince  Basil 
Golitsyn,  and  that  Medvedief  would  be  made  Patriarch  instead 
of  Joachim.  Medvedief  was  again  subjected  to  the  severe  tor- 
ture of  fire  and  hot  irons,  and  was  finally  executed  in  1691. 

After  the  surrender  of  Shaklovity,  Peter  wrote  from  Tro'itsa 
to  his  brother  Ivan  that  the  sceptre  of  the  Pussian  state  had 
been  confided  to  them — two  persons — by  the  solemn  decree  and 
ceremony  of  the  church,  and  that  nothing  had  been  said  about 
any  third  person  who  should  be  on  equality  in  the  Government, 
and  that,  as  their  sister  Sophia  had  begun  to  rule  of  her  own 
will,  and  had  interfered  in  affairs  of  state,  in  a  manner  disagree- 
able to  them  and  hard  for  the  people,  and  as  Shaklovity  and 
his  comrades  had  made  criminal  attempts  against  his  life  and 
that  of  his  mother,  he  therefore  thought  the  time  had  come,  as 
he  was  now  of  full  age,  for  himself  and  his  brother  to  govern 
the  country  without  the  interference  of  a  third  person  such  as 
his  sister,  who,  to  their  lasting  shame,  had  even  wished  to  be 


188  PJETER   THE   GREAT. 

crowned.  He  therefore  begged  his  brother  to  grant  him  per- 
mission to  change  all  unjust  judges  and  to  appoint  just  ones — 
without  specially  consulting  him  in  each  case — for  the  good  of 
the  state,  and  ended  by  asking  his  paternal  and  fraternal  bless- 
ing. The  demands  of  Peter  were  of  course  complied  with. 
Nothing  was  said  at  that  time  about  the  future  fate  of  Sophia, 
but  shortly  after  an  order  was  given  excluding  the  name  of 
Sophia  from  all  the  official  documents  where  it  had  previously 
been  inserted.  Immediately  afterward,  Peter  sent  Prince  Ivan 
Troekurof  to  his  brother  to  request  the  removal  of  his  sister 
Sophia  from  the  palace  of  the  Kremlin  to  the  Novodevitchy 
convent,  where  he  had  appointed  her  to  live  in  a  sort  of  honour- 
able confinement.  Sophia  for  a  long  time  was  unwilling  to  retire 
into  this  convent,  and  did  not  remove  thither  until  about  the 
end  of  September.  AY  ell-furnished  rooms  were  prepared  for 
her  there,  looking  out  on  the  DevitChy  plain.  She  had  a  large 
number  of  servants  and  everything  which  was  necessary  for  a 
pleasant  and  peaceful  life.  She  was  not,  however,  allowed  the 
liberty  of  going  out  of  the  convent,  and  could  see  no  one  but 
her  aunts  and  her  sisters,  and  these  only  on  the  great  festivals 
of  the  church. 

So  long  as  Sophia  remained  in  the  Kremlin,  Peter  refused 
to  return  to  Moscow,  and  it  was  only  after  she  had  gone  to  the 
convent  that  he  set  out  from  Troitsa,  passed  a  week  or  more  in 
cavalry  and  infantry  manoeuvres,  under  the  direction  of  General 
Gordon,  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  finally  arrived  at  Moscow  on 
October  10.  lie  went  first  to  the  Cathedral  of  the  Assump- 
tion, where  he  was  received  by  his  brother  Ivan,  who  rushed  to 
his  embrace,  and  afterward,  arrayed  in  his  robes  of  state  and 
standing  at  the  top  of  the  Red  Staircase,  showed  himself  to  his 
people  as  their  lawful  ruler. 

In  the  middle  of  this  revolution,  when  the  city  was  all  in 
confusion  and  terror,  Mazeppa,  Iletman  of  the  Cossacks  of  the 
Ukraine,  arrived  at  Moscow.  By  order  of  the  Regency,  he 
was  met  at  the  Kaluga  gate  by  a  secretary  with  one  of  the  Tsar's 
carriages,  which,  apparently,  was  somewhat  the  worse  for  wear, 
for  Mazeppa,  on  taking  his  seat,  said :  '  Thank  the  Lord ! 
Through  the  grace  of  the  Tsar  I  am  now  riding  in  one  of  the 
Imperial  carriages.     But  what  sort  of  a  carriage  is  it  ?  (with  a 


1689.] 


SOPHIA    SENT   TO   A    CONVENT. 


180 


sniff).  It  is  apparently  an  old  German  one.''  '  In  this  carriage 
the  extraordinary  ambassadors  of  foreign  rulers  always  ride,' 
answered  the  secretary,  with  dignity.     In  his  further  conversa- 


Sabres  of  Mazeppa,   Chief  of  the   Cossacks  (in  the    Museum  of  Tsarkoe  Selo,. 

tion,  and  also  in  the  speech  which  he  made  on  being  received 
at  the  palace,  he  spoke  of  the  unheard-of  victories  which  Golit- 
syn  had  won  in  the  Crimea,  as  surpassing  those  of  Darius,  the 
Persian  Kin<r. 


190  PETER   THE    GREAT. 

When  matters  began  to  go  badly  for  Sophia  and  Golitsyn, 
when  Shaklo\  ity  had  been  surrendered,  and  everyone  was  going 
to  Troitsa,  Mazeppa  became  alarmed  about  Ids  relations  to  the 
new  Government,  fearing  that  it  might  be  remembered  against 
him  that  lie  had  been  an  ardent  partisan  of  Golitsyn.  lie  too, 
therefore,  hastened  to  Troitsa.  Among  the  advisers  of  Peter, 
there  were  some  who  thought  it  better  to  get  rid  of  Mazeppa, 
but  others  more  wisely  represented  that  the  lletman  had  here- 
tofore been  changed  for  misconduct  or  unpopularity  only  ;  that 
it  would  be  dangerous  to  introduce  a  new  precedent ;  and  that 
in  any  case,  in  the  disturbed  state  of  affairs,  it  would  be  difficidt 
to  mid  a  successor  to  Mazeppa  without  the  expenditure  of  much 
money.  Mazeppa  was  therefore  well  received,  and,  seeing  his 
good  reception,  he  thought  to  make  sure  of  the  future  by  break- 
ing completely  with  his  past,  lie  said  that  Golitsyn  had  extor- 
ted large  sums  of  money  from  him  before  being  Milling  to  in- 
stal  him  as  lletman,  and  begged  to  be  remunerated  from  the 
property  of  the  traitor.  This  request  was  regarded  as  a  sign  of 
complete  submission,  and  all  his  demands  were  complied  with. 
lie  received  a  charter  confirming  all  the  previous  rights  and 
liberties  of  Little  Russia ;  he  obtained  additional  Russian  troojjs 
for  the  defence  of  the  Ukraine ;  he  induced  the  Government  to 
consent  to  keep  the  Russian  officials  and  soldiery  in  better  order 
and  under  stricter  discipline,  and  with  less  inconvenience  to  the 
Cossacks;  and  he  was  also  successful  in  carrying  out  some  plans 
of  vengeance  against  his  personal  enemies.  Satisfied  with  this 
and  with  the  presents  of  money  he  received,  he  returned  to  the 
banks  of  the  Dnieper.1 

1  Ustrialof ,  II.   ch.   iii.  iv.  ;  Solovief ,  xiv. ;  Pogodiu  ;  Medvedief ;  Bruck- 
ner, Golisyn. 


XX. 


OUTBURST  OF  FANATICISM. 


The  only  practical  result  of  the  downfall  of  Sophia  was  that 
the  aristocratic  party  filled  the  offices  of  state  and  administered 
the  Government.  Peter  himself  left  everything  in  the  hands  of 
his  counsellors,  and  for  several  years  took  merely  a  formal  part 
in  the  administration.  He 
confined  himself  almost  en- 
tirely to  military  exercises 
and  boat-building,  and  to 
indulging  his  mechanical 
tastes.  He  had  no  care  for 
affairs  of  state,  and  felt  no 
interest  in  them.  His  uncle, 
the  boyiir  Leo  Xaryshkin, 
occupied  the  most  prominent 
position  in  the  new  Govern- 
ment as  Director  of  Foreign 
A  Hairs,  in  which  office  he 
was  assisted  by  the  council- 
lor Ukraintsef,  a  man  of 
great  experience  and  capa- 
city. The  other  prominent 
offices  were  divided  among 
the  chief  families  of  the 
aristocratic  party,  especially 
among  those  most  nearly  connected  with  Peter,  his  mother,  and 
his  wife — Uriisof,  Iiamodanofsky,  Troekurof,  Stre*shnef,  Pro- 
zorofsky,  Lopiikhin,  Golofkin,  Lvof,  Sheremetief,  Dolgoruky, 
Lykof — so  that  the  whole  cabal  was  well  represented.  Prince 
Boris  Golitsyn,  in  spite  of  his  difficulty  with  the  Xarvshkins,  re- 


Prince    Boris   Goli'tsyn. 


"192  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

tained  his  old  position  as  Director  of  the  Department  of  the 
Palace  of  Kazan,  and  four  other  prominent  men  who  served  un- 
der Sophia — Efcepnin,  Sokovnin,  Odoiefsky,  and  Yinins — were 
kept  in  their  posts.  The  provincial  administration,  and  even  the 
government  of  the  army,  remained  almost  untouched.  The  boyar 
Boris  Sheremetief ,  in  spite  of  the  favour  with  which  he  had  been 
regarded  by  the  Regency,  was  maintained  as  general-in-chief  of 
the  army  which  protected  the  southern  frontier  against  the  Tar- 
tars. General  Gordon,  too,  kept  his  place  and  his  influence. 
Except  that  the  energy  of  Sophia,  Golitsyn,  and  Shaklovity  was 
wanting,  the  policy  of  the  new  ministers  differed  little  from  that 
of  their  predecessors. 

One  of  the  first  consequences  of  the  change  of  administration 
was  an  outburst  of  the  popular  hatred  against  foreigners,  a 
hatred  which  had  long  been  accumulating  in  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  which  had  not  infrequently  manifested  itself  in 
various  and  even  violent  forms.  There  was  a  seemingly  in- 
eradicable feeling  in  the  Russian  mind  that  the  country  suffered 
from  foreigners,  that  foreign  merchants  came  like  a  swarm  of 
locusts  and  ate  up  all  the  good  things  of  the  land,  and  that 
foreign  countries  were  in  conspiracy  to  keep  Russia  poor.  The 
political  economists,  Ivan  Pososhkof  and  Yiiry  Kryzhanitch, 
sensible  men  as  they  were  in  other  respects,  shared  this  feeling. 
and  wished  to  put  a  sort  of  Chinese  wall  around  Russia,  so  as  to 
keep  people  from  going  in  or  out.  They  were  protectionists  in 
the  most  positive  form.  Yery  few  Russians  had  been  abroad, 
except  on  Government  embassies,  and  those  were  diligently  oc- 
cupied in  carrying  out  the  prescriptions  of  a  formal  etiquette, 
and  were  cut  off,  by  their  ignorance  of  foreign  languages,  from 
the  possibility  of  understanding  western  Europe.  There  was 
the  fear  lest  contact  with  the  west  and  with  foreigners  should 
corrupt  Russia,  and  above  all  lead  to  heresy,  especially  to  Roman 
Catholicism.  The  few  cases  where  Russians  had  gone  abroad 
for  purposes  of  study  were  not  re-assuring.  Of  all  the  young 
men  sent  abroad  by  Boris  Godunof,  not  more  than  two  or  three 
returned,  and  the  son  of  the  celebrated  boyar  Ordin-Xastchokin, 
who  had  been  educated  by  a  Polish  teacher  and  had  travelled  in 
Poland,  finally  ran  away  from  his  father  and  his  country,  and 
renounced  his  religion.     This  possible  corruption  of  Russian 


1689.] 


HATRED    OF   FOREIGNERS. 


193 


orthodoxy  and  of  Russian  manners  seemed  to  weigh  the  most 
heavily  on  the  mind  of  the  Russian  Conservatives.  There  were 
a  few  men  at  different  epochs  who  rose  superior  to  this  pre- 
judice— Ivan  the  Terrible,  Godunof,  the  so-called  false  Deme- 
trius, Theodore,  Sophia,  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  and  Peter.  But 
the  aristocratic  party  that  surrounded  Peter  was  deeply  conser- 
vative, and,  therefore,  very  prejudiced.  The  Patriarch,  who 
was  now  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  aristocratic  party,  had,  even 
before  the  last  Crimean  campaign,  protested  against  the  em- 
ployment of  foreign  soldiers,  and  especially  of  that  arch-heretic 
General  Gordon,  and  had  pre- 
dicted disaster  to  the  Rus- 
sian arms  in  consequence.  1 1  is 
advice  was  naturally  disre- 
garded, for  the  foreigners 
were  the  only  officers  capable 
of  taking  command ;  but,  as 
disaster  did  come,  his  predic- 
tions were  by  many  thought 
to  be  verified.  Prince  Basil 
Golitsyn,  in  a  way  an  enlight- 
ened man  and  well-disposed  to 
foreigners,  had  to  a  certain  de- 
gree, protected  the  Jesuits. 
Such  protection  was  neces- 
sary, for,  in  spite  of  the  tol- 
eration at  the  Court  of  Mos- 
cow   toward    Calvinists    and 

Lutherans,  the  Catholics  were  never  allowed  for  long  to  have 
churches  specially  set  apart  for  the  purpose,  although  they 
were  admitted  at  times  to  say  mass  in  private  houses.  As  soon 
as  Golitsyn  was  overthrown,  a  decree  was  issued  for  the  banish- 
ment of  the  Jesuits  within  two  weeks,  and  the  Imperial  Envoy 
found  it  impossible  to  obtain  exceptions,  or  even  much  delay.  It 
required  a  long  diplomatic  correspondence,  the  urgent  demand 
of  the  Emperor  Leopold,  and  all  the  personal  influence  of" 
General  Gordon  with  Peter,  to  get  permission  for  one  priest, 
not  a  Jesuit,  to  reside  in  Moscow. 

One  case  of  religious  persecution  had  begun  months  before 
Vol.  I.— 13 


General   Patrick   Gordon. 


T94  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

A  German  fanatic  from  Breslau,  Quirinus  Kuhlmann,  another 
German  preacher,  Nordermann,  and  a  painter,  Ilenin,  were  ac- 
cused of  teaching  and  disseminating  heretical  and  blasphemous 
doctrines.  Their  case  was  investigated  by  the  translators  of  the 
Foreign  Office,  and,  for  better  information,  referred  to  the  Pro- 
testant pastors  then  living  in  Moscow,  as  well  as  to  all  the  Jesu- 
its then  there.  Apparently  Kuhlmann  was  a  sort  of  Quaker, 
but  had  developed  a  body  of  doctrine  based  on  the  mystical 
works  of  Jacob  Bohme.  The  report  of  Pastor  Meincke  was 
very  strong  against  Kuhlmann,  and  after  the  three  men  accused 
had  been  subjected  several  times  to  violent  tortures  without 
bringing  them  to  yield,  they  were  condemned  to  death.  Kuhl- 
mann and  Nordermann  were  burned  alive  in  the  Tied  Place  at 
Moscow  on  October  14,  four  days  before  Peter  came  to  the 
capital.  Ilenin  avoided  a  like  death  by  taking  poison  in  prison 
and  committing  suicide. 

We  must  remember  the  time  at  which  this  took  place. 
Thomas  Aikenhead  was  executed  for  heresy  at  Edinburgh  in 
1696,  witches  were  burned  in  England  in  1676,  and  hanged  even 
in  1796).  A  witch  was  burned  at  Wurtzburg  in  1749,  and  nine- 
teen were  hanged  at  Salem,  Massachusetts,  in  1<!92. 

Xot  only  were  the  Jesuits  expelled,  but  within  a  year  from 
the  permission  given  to  the  exiled  Huguenots  to  settle  in  Rus- 
sia, strict  orders  were  sent  to  the  frontier  to  stop  all  foreigners 
and  thoroughly  examine  them  as  to  whence  they  came  and 
what  reason  they  had  for  visiting  Russia,  and  to  detain  them 
until  orders  were  received  from  Moscow.  Among  others  kept 
in  this  way  was  Dr.  Jacob  Pelarino,  a  Greek  physician  recom- 
mended to  the  Tsar  by  the  Emperor.  Another  physician  of 
Peter,  Dr.  Carbonari,  also  recommended  by  the  Emperor  Leo- 
pold, had  his  letters  and  papers  seized  and  was  strictly  forbid- 
den to  carry  on  any  further  correspondence  with  Vienna  or  with 
the  Jesuits,  under  pain  of  expulsion.  At  the  same  time,  orders 
were  given  to  Andrew  Yinius,  the  Director  of  Posts,  to  inspect 
all  letters  which  passed  the  Russian  frontier  either  going  or 
coming.  This  measure  regarded  especially  the  exchange  of  cor- 
respondence with  persons  in  Poland.  The  Polish  minister  com- 
plained greatly  that  either  he  did  not  receive  his  letters  at  all, 
or  else  that  they  had  been  opened.     According  to  Van  Keller, 


1690.]  GORDON   AND   HIS   SON.  L95 

this  was  denied  by  the  Government,  but  GreneraJ  Gordon  wrote 
to  his  son  in  Poland  Dot  to  date  his  letters  from  any  place  in 
that  country,  and  always  to  send  them  by  the  way  of  Riga  or 
Danzig,  in  order  to  prevent  their  being  opened  or  confiscated. 

The  previous  system  of  exclusion  had,  in  fact,  changed  very 
little.  James,  the  second  son  of  General  Gordon,  had  been 
educated  in  the  Jesuit  College  at  Douai.  In  Kiss  Ik-  came  to 
.Moscow,  but  showed  an  unwillingness  to  enter  the  service  of  the 
Tsar  and  went  to  England,  took  up  arms  for  King  James  11.. 
was  wounded  in  a  fight  with  the  Dutch  and  forced  to  leave  the 
country.  He  next  went  to  Warsaw  with  the  intention  of  enter- 
ing the  Polish  service,  but  his  father  pressed  him  hard  to  come 
back  to  Russia.  One  thing  only  stood  in  the  way — James  did 
not  desire  to  enter  the  Tsar's  service  unless  he  could  have  the 
privilege  of  leaving  Russia  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  for 
which  he  should  be  engaged.  This  was  an  unheard-of  thing  in 
Russia,  for  all  foreigners  in  the  Russian  service  were  obliged  to 
remain  there  until  they  died,  and  even  General  Gordon  himself, 
in  spite  of  his  excellent  position  at  court  during  the  whole  of 
the  reign  of  Sophia,  although  allowed  to  go  abroad,  for  business 
and  sent  on  special  missions,  could  never  get  permission  to  re- 
sign. After  many  requests  on  Gordon's  part,  all  he  could  ob- 
tain was  that  if  his  son  came  to  Russia  he  would  not  be  com- 
pelled to  enter  the  Russian  service,  and  could  return,  but  that 
if  he  once  took  the  oath  he  must  remain.  Gordon,  on  this  busi- 
ness,  was  in  frequent  correspondence  with  his  son  during  the 
whole  of  1000,  and  finally  advised  him  to  come  to  Russia,  but 
not  to  engaire  himself,  and  to  remain  a  free  man  'until  circum- 
stances  changed.'  By  this  expression  -until  circumstances 
changed' — General  Gordon  evidently  meant  the  same  thing  as 
he  did,  when,  in  a  letter,  he  said:  'If  the  Tsar  Peter  should 
take  upon  himself  the  government,'  referring  to  the  fact  that 
Peter  not  only  took  no  part  in  public  affairs,  but  had  little  in- 
fluence with  the  real  rulers  of  the  country,  who  were  nominally 
his  ministers. 

On  March  1<»,  1090,  Gordon  was  invited  to  dine  at  court  at 
the  banquet  given  in  honour  of  the  recent  birth  of  Peter's  son, 
Alexis;  but  the  Patriarch,  who  now  felt  himself  strong,  pro- 
tested against  the  presence  of  foreigners  on  such  an  occasion, 


196  PETEE   THE    GREAT. 

and  the  invitation  was  withdrawn.  On  the  next  day,  neverthe- 
less,  Peter  invited  him  to  a  country  house,  dined  with  him 
there,  and  rode  back  to  town  with  him,  conversing  all  the  way. 

A  few  days  later,  on  March  27,  the  Patriarch  Joachim  died. 
In  the  form  of  a  testament  especially  directed  to  the  Tsars,  lie 
left  a  powerful  expression  of  his  hatred  toward  the  foreigners. 
He  counselled  the  Tsars  to  drive  out  from  Russia  all  heretics 
and  unbelievers,  foreigners  and  enemies  of  the  orthodox  church, 
and  warned  them  against  adopting  foreign  customs,  habits,  and 
clothing,  begged  them  to  forbid  all  intercourse  of  any  kind  with 
heretics,  whether  Lutherans,  Calvinists,  or  Catholics,  and  laid 
great  stress  on  the  danger  to  the  country  if,  in  the  blessed  land 
ruled  over  by  the  Tsars,  foreigners  should  hold  high  places  in 
the  army,  and  thus  rule  over  orthodox  men.  lie  advised  the 
immediate  destruction  of  the  foreign  churches,  and  was  espe- 
cially bitter  against  the  Protestants  for  their  attacks  on  the 
adoration  of  the  Virgin  and  the  saints.  lie  held  up  the  fate 
of  the  Princess  Sophia  and  of  Basil  Golitsyn  as  a  warning; 
they  had  rejected  his  advice  about  the  employment  of  foreign- 
ers in  the  last  Crimean  campaign.  lie  said,  in  confirmation 
of  his  complaints :  k  I  wonder  at  the  counsellors  and  advisers 
of  the  Tsar  who  have  been  on  embassies  in  foreign  coun- 
tries. Have  they  not  seen  that  in  every  land  there  are  pecu- 
liar rites,  customs,  and  modes  of  dress,  that  no  merit  is  allowed 
to  be  in  anyone  of  another  faith,  and  that  foreigners  are  not 
permitted  to  build  churches  there '.  Is  there  anywhere  in  Ger- 
man lands  a  church  of  the  orthodox  faith  (  Xo  !  not  one.  And 
what  here  never  should  have  been  permitted  is  now  allowed  to 
heretics.  They  build  for  their  accursed  heretical  gatherings 
temples  of  prayer,  in  which  they  evilly  curse  ami  bark  against 
orthodox  people,  as  idle  worshippers  and  heathens.' 

Great  difficulty  was  found  in  choosing  a  new  Patriarch,  and 
it  was  five  months  before  the  election  was  made.  Peter  and 
the  higher  and  more  educated  clergy  were  in  favor  of  Marcellus, 
the  Aletropolitan  of  Pskof,  'a  learned  and  civilised  person,' 
while  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia,  the  monks,  and  the  lower  clergy  were 
in  favour  of  Adrian,  the  Metropolitan  of  Kazan.  According  to 
( reneral  Gordon,  k  the  greatest  fault  they  had  to  lay  to  the 
charge  of  Marcellus  was  that  he  had  too  much  learning,  and  so 


1090.]  CHOICE    OF   PATRIARCH.  197 

they  feared  and  paid  lie  would  favour  the  Catholics  and  other 
religions,  to  which  purpose  the  Abbot  of  the  Spasky  monastery 
had  given  in  a  writing  to  the  Queen  Dowager,  accusing  him  of 
many  points,  and  even  of  heresy.  But  the  younger  Tsar,  con- 
tinuing firm  for  him,  removed  with  the  elder  Tsar  and  the 
whole  court  to  Kolomenskoe.5  At  a  later  date,  September  3, 
Gordon  says  :  'The  Metropolitan  of  Kazan,  Adrian,  was  chosen 
Patriarch,  notwithstanding  the  Tsar's  inclination  for  Marcellus, 
the  Metropolitan  of  Pskof,  whom  the  old  boyars.  and  the  gen- 
erality of  the  clergy  hated,  because  of  his  learning  and  other 
great  good  qualities,  and  chose  this  one  because  of  his  ignorance 
and  simplicity.'  Subsequently,  when  Peter  passed  through  Li- 
vonia, according  to  Blomberg:  'He  told  us  a  story  that,  when 
the  Patriarch  in  Moscow  was  dead,  he  designed  to  till  that  place 
with  a  learned  man,  that  had  been  a  traveller,  M'lio  spoke  Latin. 
Italian  and  French ;  the  Russians  petitioned  him,  in  a  tumul- 
tuous manner,  not  to  set  such  a  man  over  them,  alleging  three 
reasons:  (1)  because  he  spoke  barbarous  languages;  (2)  because 
his  beard  was  not  big  enough  for  a  Patriarch ;  (3)  because  his 
coachman  sat  upon  the  coach-seat  and  not  upon  the  horses,  as 
was  usual.1  ' 

1  Ustrialof,  I.  iii.  iv.  ;  Solovief,  xiv.  ;  N.  Tikhonravof,  Quirinus  Kiclrfmann 
■^Russian),  Moscow,  1867;  Gordon's  Diary;  Blomberg-,  An  Account  of  Lin>. 
nia,  ttc,  London,  1701;  Despatches  of  Dutch  residents  in  archives  at  the 
Hague. 


XXI. 

THE  GERMAN  SUBURB  AT  MOSCOW. 

Although  foreigners  came  to  Russia  from  the  earliest  period, 
vet  it  was  not  until  the  time  of  Ivan  III.  that  they  arrived  in 
great  numbers.  That  prince  received  foreign  artists  and  arti- 
sans so  well  that  numbers  of  Italian  architects,  engineers, 
goldworkers,  physicians,  and  mechanics  hastened  to  Moscow. 
His  marriage  with  the  Greek  Princess  Sophia  Palseologos  gave 
rise  to  new  and  more  frequent  relations  with  Italy,  and  he 
several  times  sent  to  Rome,  Venice,  and  Milan  for  physicians 
and  men  of  technical  knowledge.  It  was  in  this  way  that  the 
Cathedral  of  the  Assumption  came  to  he  built  by  Aristotle 
Fioraventi  of  Bologna,  that  of  St.  Michael  the  Archangel  by 
Aleviso  of  Milan,  and  the  banqueting  hall  of  the  palace,  and 
the  walls  and  the  gates  of  the  Kremlin  by  other  Italian  archi- 
tects. German  miners,  too,  came,  or  were  sent  by  Matthew 
Corvinus,  King  of  Hungary,  and  some  of  them  discovered 
silver  and  copper  mines  in  Siberia. 

Ivan  IY.,  the  Terrible,  appreciated  foreigners,  and  invited 
large  numbers  <»f  them  into  Russia.  But,  besides  this,  it  was 
during  his  reign  in  1558,  that  an  English  expedition  penetrated 
into  the  "White  Sea,  and  the  trade  with  England  began,  which 
soon  took  great  proportions,  and  brought  to  Russia  many  Eng- 
lish merchants.  After  the  conquest  of  Livonia  and  portions 
of  the  southern  shore  of  the  Baltic  very  many  prisoners  of 
war  were  sent  to  Moscow,  and  elsewhere  in  the  interior  of 
Russia,  and  were  never  allowed  to  return  to  the^f  own  country. 

Under  Ivans  son  Theodore,  and  Boris  Godunof,  the  inter- 
course with  western  Europe  constantly  increased.  Favours 
were  given,  not  only  to  the  English  merchants,  but  also  to 
Dutchmen  and  Danes,  to  immigrant.-  from  Hamburg  and  the 


FOREIGNERS   IN    RUSSIA. 


199 


Hanse  Towns.  Godunof  invited  soldiers  and  officers  as  well  as 
physicians  and  artisans.  His  children  were  educated  with  great 
deviations  from  Russian  routine.  Tie 
even  thought  of  marrying  his  daughter 
to  a  Danish  prince,  and,  when  at  his 
country  estate,  was  fond  of  the  society 
of  foreigners.  The  so-called  False 
Demetrius  had  very  great  inclinations 
toward  foreigners.  This  was  very 
natural,  for  he  had  been  educated  in 
Poland,  and  had  seen  the  advantages 
of  western  culture.  Polish  manners 
prevailed  at  his  court ;  he  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  guard  of  foreign  soldiers  • 
he  protected  all  religions,  especially 
the  Catholic  ;  he  urged  Russians  to 
travel  abroad,  and  so  willingly  received 
foreigners  that  a  Pole,  in  writing 
about  the  immigration  of  so  many  for- 
eigners into  Russia,  said :  '  For  cen- 
turies long  it  was  hard  for  the  birds 
even  to  get  into  the  realm  of  Muscovy, 
but  now  come  not  only  many  mer- 
chants, but  a  crowd  of  grocers  and 
tavern-keepers.'  Under  the  Tsar 
Theodore,  son  of  Ivan  the  Terrible, 
there  were,  according  to  Fletcher, 
about  4,300  foreigners  in  the  Russian 
service,  most  of  them  Poles  and  Little 
Russians,  but  still  about  150  Dutch- 
men and  Scotchmen.  In  the  reign  of 
Boris  Godunof,  the  foreign  detach- 
ment in  the  army  was  composed  of 
twenty-live  hundred  men  of  all  nation- 
alities. Two  officers,  owing  to  their 
conduct  during  the  Troublous  Times, 
and  the  memoirs  which  they  have  left, 
are  well-known — the  Livonian,  "Walter 
Von  Rosen,  and  the  Frenchman  Mar- 


Arms  of  the  Tsar's  Body-Guard — Parti. 


200 


PETER   THE    GREAT, 


geret.  The  body-guard  of  Demetrius  was  composed  of  three 
hundred  foreigners,  all  of  them  so  well  paid  that  they  stalked 
about  in  silk  and  satin.  Margeret  was  captain  of  one  division 
of  this  bo.dy-guard. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Grand  Duke 
Basil  established  the  residence  of  his  foreign  body- 
guard, consisting  of  Poles,  Germans  and  Lithua- 
nians, on  the  right  hank  of  the  river  Moskva,  out- 
side the  town,  in  a  place  called  Naleiki,  in  order, 
as  Herberstein  said,  that  the  Russians  might  not 
he  contaminated  by  the  bad  example  of  their 
drunkenness.  Later  on.  this  district  became  in- 
habited by  Streltsi  and  the  common  people,  and 
the  Livonian  prisoners  of  war  were  established  by 
Ivan  the  Terrible  on  the  Yauza,  near  the  Pokrof 
gate.  When  Demetrius  was  so  desperately  de- 
fended by  his  foreign  body-guard,  that  a  Livonian, 
"Wilhelm  Fiirstenberg,  fell  at  his  side,  the  Rus- 
sians said  :  '  See  what  true  dogs  these  Germans 
are:  let  us  kill  them  all ; '  and  during  the  Troublous 
Times,  the  foreigners  in  Moscow  were  subject  to 
constant  attacks  from  the  Russians.  Persecutions 
were  organised  against  them,  as  at  other  times  and 
places  against  the  Jews.  There  was  not  a  popular 
commotion  in  which  threats,  at  least,  were  not 
made  against  them,  and  during  one  of  the  attacks 
the  whole  foreign  quarter  was  burnt  to  the  ground. 
After  this,  the  foreigners  lived  within  the  walls, 
and  for  a  while  enjoyed  the  same  privileges  as 
Russian  subjects,  adopting  their  dress  and  their 
habits.  Livonian  prisoners  of  war  had,  even  be- 
fore the  Troublous  Times,  made  their  May  within 
the  town,  and  had  built  a  church  or  two.  For 
some  reason  they  incurred  the  wrath  of  the  Tsar,  were  driven 
from  their  houses,  and  their  property  was  plundered.  Margeret 
says  of  them  : 

'The  Lutheran  Livonians,  who,  on  the  conquest  of  the 
greatest  part  of  Livonia,  and  the  removal  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Dorpat  and  JSarva,  had  been  brought  as  prisoners  to  Moscow, 


Arms  of  the  Tsar' 
Body-Guard  —  Parti 
san. 


THE   LUTHERANS.  2<>1 

had  succeeded  in  getting  two  churches  inside  flic  town  of  Mos- 
cow, and  celebrated  in  them  their  public  divine  service.  At 
last,  on  account  of  their  pride  and  vanity,  their  churches  were 
torn  down  by  the  Tsar's  command,  all  their  houses  were  plun- 
dered, and  they  themselves,  without  regard  to  age  or  sex,  and 
in  winter,  too,  were  stripped  to  nakedness.  For  thisthey  were 
themselves  thoroughly  to  blame,  for  instead  of  remembering 
their  former  misery,  when  they  were  brought  from  their  native 
country,  and  robbed  of  their  property  and  had  become  slaves, 
and  being  humble  on  account  of  their  sufferings,  their  demean- 
our was  so  proud,  their  conduct  and  actions  so  arrogant,  and 
their  clothes  so  costly,  that  one  might  have  taken  them  for 
real  princes  and  princesses.  When  their  women  went  to  church, 
they  wore  nothing  but  satin,  and  velvet,  and  damask,  and  the 
meanest  of  them  at  least  taffeta,  even  if  they  had  nothing  else. 
Their  chief  gains  were  from  the  permission  they  had  to  sell 
brandy  and.  other  kinds  of  drinks,  whereby  they  got  not  ten  per 
cent.,  but  a  hundred  per  cent.,  which  appears  most  improbable, 
but  is  nevertheless  true.  But  what  always  distinguished  the 
.Livonians  marked  them  here.  One  could  have  imagined  that 
they  had  been  brought  to  Russia  to  display  here  their  vanity 
and  shamelessness,  which  on  account  of  the  existing  laws  and 
justice  they  could  not  do  in  their  own  country.  At  last,  a  place 
was  given  to  them  outside  the  town  to  build  their  houses  and  a 
church.  Since  then,  no  one  of  them  is  allowed  to  dwell  inside 
the  town  of  Moscow.' 

When  affairs  became  more  settled  under  the  Tsar  Alexis, 
by  a  decree  of  1G52  there  was  a  systematic  settling  of  all  for-' 
eigners  in  a  suburb  outside  the  town  ;  the  number  of  the  streets 
and  lanes  was  set  clown  in  the  registers,  the  pieces  of  land,  vary- 
ing from  350  to  1,800  yards  square,  were  set  apart  for  the 
officers,  the  physicians,  the  apothecaries,  the  artisans  and  the 
widows  of  foreigners  who  had  been  in  the  Russian  service.  This 
suburb,  which  was  nicknamed  by  the  Russians  Kiikui,  now 
forms  the  north-eastern  portion  of  the  city  of  Moscow,  inter- 
sected by  the  Basmannaya  and  Pokrofskaya  streets,  and  still 
contains  the  chief  Protestant  and  Catholic  churches.  It  is  fairly 
depicted  to  us  in  one  of  the  drawings  made  by  the  artist  who 
accompanied  Meyerbergs  embassy  in    1661.      As   the  houses 


202  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

were  of  wood,  and  surrounded  by  gardens,  this  suburb  had  all 
the  appearances  of  a  large  and  flourishing  village. 

Reutenfels,  who  was  in  Russia  from  1671  to  1673,  estimated 
the  number  <»f  foreigners  in  the  country  as  about  18,000.  Most 
of  them  lived  in  Moscow,  but  a  large  number  inhabited 
Vologda,  Archangel  and  other  towns  where  there  was  foreign 
trade,  as  well  as  the  mining  districts. 

The  residence  of  the  foreigners  in  a  separate  suburb  natu- 
rally enabled  them  to  keep  up  the  traditions  and  customs  of 
Western  Europe  much  more  easily  than  if  they  had  mingled 
with  the  Russians.  They  wore  foreign  clothing,  read  foreign 
books,  and  spoke,  at  least  in  their  households,  their  own  lan- 
guages, although  they  all  had  some  acquaintance  with  the  Rus- 
sian tongue,  which  sometimes  served  as  a  medium  of  communi- 
cation with  each  other.  The  habitual  use  of  a  few  Russian 
words,  the  adoption  of  a  few  Russian  customs,  conformity  to 
the  Russian  dress  and  ways  of  thinking  on  some  points,  was  the 
most  they  had  advanced  toward  Russianisation.  Rarely  did 
they  change  their  faith  to  advance  their  worldly  prospects, 
although  the  children  of  marriages  with  Russians  were  brought 
up  in  the  Russian  church.  In  general,  they  held  close  to  their 
own  religion  and  their  own  modes  of  education.  They  kept  up 
a  constant  intercourse  with  their  native  countries,  by  new  arri- 
vals, and  by  correspondence  with  their  friends.  They  imported 
not  only  foreign  conveniences  for  their  own  use,  but  also  re- 
ceived from  abroad  the  journals  of  the  period,  books  of  science 
and  history,  novels  and  poems.  Their  interest  in  the  politics  of 
their  own  lands  was  always  maintained,  and  many  and  warm 
were  the  discussions  which  were  caused  by  the  wars  between 
France  and  the  Low  Countries,  and  the  English  Revolution. 
In  this  way,  the  German  suburb  was  a  nucleus  of  a  superior 
civilisation. 

In  thinking  of  the  foreign  colony  in  Moscow  at  the  end  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  it  is  impossible  not  to  remember  the 
English  and  German  colonies  in  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow  of 
the  present  day.  Here  they  have  kept  their  own  religion,  their 
own  language,  and,  in  many  cases,  their  own  customs.  But  still 
they  have  something  about  them  which  is  Russian.  In  no  re- 
spect is  the  comparison  more  close  than  in  the  relations  which 


THE    FOKEIGN    COLONY. 


203 


they  keep  up  with  tlie  homes  of  their  ancestors.  Although 
most  of  the  English  colony  of  St.  Petersburg,  for  instance,  were 
born  in  Russia,  and  some  of  them  are  even  descended 
from  families  who  settled  there  during  the  time  of 
Peter  the  Great,  or  even  before,  yet  frequently  the 
bo}Ts  arc  sent  to  English  schools  and  universities, 
there  are  English  houses  of  the  same  family  connected 
with  them  in  business,  and,  in  cases,  oneof  the  fam- 
ily is  a  member  of  Parliment.  The  English  colony, 
especially  in  St.  Petersburg,  is  on  a  better  footing 
than  it  is  in  most  foreign  countries.  Its  members 
are  not  living  there  to  escape  their  debts  at  home, 
or  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  disgrace,  nor  are  they 
there  simply  for  the  purpose  of  making  money. 
Russia  has  been  their  home  for  generations,  and 
they  deservedly  possess  the  respect  and  esteem,  not 
only  of  their  own  countrymen,  but  of  the  Russians. 
The  influence  of  the  foreign  residents  in  Russia 
was  especially  seen  in  the  material  development  of 
the  country.  The  Russians  were  then,  as  they  are 
now,  quick  to  learn  and  ready  to  imitate.  A  Pole, 
JVIaszkiewicz,  in  the  time  of  the  False  Demetrius, 
remarked  that  the  metal  and  leather  work  of  the 
Russians  after  Oriental  designs  could  scarcely  be 
distinguished  from  the  genuine  articles.  Foreigners 
understood  this  quality  of  Russian  workmen,  and 
frequently  endeavoured  to  keep  their  trades  as  a 
monopoly  for  themselves.  We  know  that  Hans 
Falck,  a  foreign  manufacturer  of  bells  and  metal 
castings,  sent  away  his  Russian  workmen  when  en- 
gaged in  the  delicate  processes,  in  order  that  they 
might  not  learn  the  secrets  of  the  art.  Tin;  Gov- 
ernment found  it  necessary,  in  many  cases,  to  make 
contracts  with  foreign  artisans  that  they  should 
teach  their  trades  to  a  certain  number  of  Russian 
workmen.  It  Avas  the  Englishman  John  Merrick, 
first  merchant  and  subsequently  ambassador,  who 
was  one  of  the  earliest  to  teach  the  Russians  that  it  was  better 
for  them  to  manufacture  for   themselves  than  to    export    the 


M 


Arms  made  for 
Russians — Arque- 
buse  of  Tsar  Alex- 
is, made  in  1654. 


204 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


raw  materials.  lie  exj^lained  to  the  boyars  how  people  had 
been  poor  in  England  as  long  as  they  had  exported  raw  wool, 
and  had  only  begun  to  get  rich  when  the  lawrs  protected 
the  woollen  manufacturers  by  insisting  on  the  use  of  wool  at 
home,  and  especially  on  the  use  of  woollen  shrouds,  and  how 
greatly  the  riches  of  England  had  increased  since  the  country 
began  to  sell  cloth  instead  of  wool.  It  was  in  part  through  his 
influence  that  a  manufactory  of  hemp  and  tow  was  established 
near  Ilolmogory.  In  a  similar  way,  paper-mills,  glass-factories, 
powder-mills,  saltpetre-works,  and  iron-works  were  established 
by  foreigners.  A  Dane,  Peter  Marselis,  had  important  and 
■well-known  iron-works  near  Tula,  which  were  so  productive 
that  he  was  able  to  pay  his  inspector  three  thousand  rubles  a 
year,  and  had  to  pay  to  his  brother-in-law,  for  his  share,  twenty 

thousand  rubles. 
We  can  see  the  rela- 
tive value  of  this, 
when  we  remember 
that,  at  that  time, 
two  to  two  and  a 
half  quarters  of  rye 
could  be  bought  for 
a  ruble,  and  that, 
twenty  years  later, 
the  salary  of  General  Gordon,  one  of  the  highest  in  the  Rus- 
sian service,  was  only  one  thousand  rubles  a  year ;  while  the 
pastor  of  the  Lutheran  church  in  Moscow  in  1699  received  an- 
nually only  sixty  rubles.  Concessions  for  copper  mines  were 
also  given  to  Marselis  and  other  foreigners,  and  the  Stroganofs, 
who  possessed  such  great  and  rich  mining  districts  on  the  fron- 
tier of  Siberia,  constantly  sent  abroad  for  physicians,  apothe- 
caries, and  artisans  of  all  kinds. 

It  has  already  been  said  that  the  foreigners  in  Russia  were 
not  too  well  pleased  with  the  ease  with  which  the  Russians 
learned  their  trades ;  neither  did  this  please  foreign  Govern- 
ments. The  famous  Duke  of  Alva  said  that  it  was  '  inexcusable 
to  provide  Russia  with  cannon  and  other  arms,  and  to  initiate  the 
Russians  into  the  way  war  was  carried  on  in  "Western  Europe, 
because,  in  this  way,  a  dangerous  neighbour  was  being  edu- 


Lock  of  Arquebuse. 


COMMERCIAL   ENTEKPBISES.  205 

cated.'  Sigismund,  King  of  Poland,  did  his  best  to  hinder  the 
intercourse  which  sprang  up  between  Moscow  and  England,  and 

wrote  to  Queen  Elizabeth  that  '  such  commercial  relations  were 
dangerous,  because  Russia  would  thus  receive  war  material ;  and  it 
would  be  still  worse  if  Russia,  in  this  way,  could  get  immigrants 
who  should  spread  through  the  country  the  technical  knowledge 
so  necessary  there.  It  was  in  the  interest  of  Christianity  and 
religion  to  protest  against  Russia,  the  enemy  of  all  free  nation-, 
receiving  cannon  and  arms,  artists  and  artisans,  and  being  initi- 
ated into  the  views  and  purposes  of  European  politic-.* 

It  was  natural  that,  with  constant  and  increasing  intercourse 
with  foreigners,  the  Russians  should  adopt  some  of  the  customs 
which  the  strangers  had  brought  with  them.  For  a  long  time 
the  foreigners  were  greatly  laughed  at  for  eating  salads,  or  grass., 
as  the  peasants  called  it,  but  this  habit  gradually  spread.  In 
the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Dutch  introduced 
the  culture  of  asparagus,  and  garden  roses  were  first  brought  by 
the  Dane,  Peter  Marselis.  The  use  of  snuff  and  of  smoking 
tobacco  was  speedily  acquired,  much  to  the  horror  of  all  right- 
thinking  and  orthodox  people,  who  saw  in  this  a  plain  work  of 
the  devil ;  for  was  it  not  said  in  the  Bible :  '  Not  that  which 
goeth  into  the  mouth  defileth  a  man ;  but  that  which  cometli 
out  of  the  mouth,  this  defileth  a  man."  Many  Russian  nobles 
even  adopted  foreign  clothes,  and  trimmed  their  hair  and  beard. 
]STikita  Romanof,  the  owner  of  the  boat  which  Peter  found  at 
Ismailovo,  wTore  German  clothes  while  hunting,  for  which  he 
was  sharply  reprimanded  by  the  Patriarch ;  and  the  conduct  of 
Prince  Andrew  Koltsof-Masalsky,  in  cutting  his  hair  short,  in 
1675,  caused  so  much  displeasure  that  the  Tsar  Alexis  issued  an 
ukase,  forbidding,  under  heavy  penalties,  the  trimming  one's 
hair  or  beard,  or  the  wearing  of  foreign  clothes.  This  decree 
soon  fell  into  desuetude,  and  at  the  time  of  which  we  are 
speaking,  foreign  clothes  and  foreign  habits  were  not  at  all  un- 
common among  the  Russians  of  the  higher  ranks.  Even  Peter 
himself  occasionally  wore  foreign  dress,  and  was  severely  blamed 
by  the  Patriarch  for  daring  to  appear  in  such  costume  at  the 
death-bed  of  his  mother. 

The  theatrical  performances  devised  by  Matveief  for  the 
Tsar  Alexis  have  already  been  mentioned,  as  showing  the  influ- 


200  PETEB  THE   GBEAT. 

ence  of  Foreigners.  But  it  is  curious  to  find  that  the  perform- 
ances were  directed  by  Johann  Gottfried  Gregorii,the  pastor  of 
the  Lutheran  church,  lie  not  only  wrote  some  of  the  plays,  but 
started  a  theatrical  school,  where  the  school-boys  of  the  German 
suburb  and  the  sons  of  some  of  the  chief  inhabitants  were 
taught  acting. 

One  of  the  most  important  steps  in  civilisation  introduced 
by  foreigners  was  the  letter-post.  Postal  communications  had 
previously  existed  in  the  interior  of  the  country,  but,  even  for 
Government  purposes,  they  were  very  slow,  and  nearly  all  let- 
ters  were  sent  by  private  hand,  or  by  a  chance  messenger.  It 
was  in  1064  that  a  decree  of  the  Tsar  Alexis  gave  a  Swede 
named  John  privileges  for  the  organisation  of  an  international 
letter-post,  and  in  1667  the  first  postal  convention  was  made 
with  Poland.  John  of  Sweden  was  succeeded  by  Peter  Mar- 
selis,  the  Dane,  and  he  by  Andrew  Vinius,  who  first  received 
the  title  of  Postmaster  of  His  Majesty  the  Tsar,  and  was  ordered 
to  conclude  postal  conventions  with  the  neighbouring  States. 
The  institution  of  the  post-office  did  not  please  all  Russians  as 
much  as  it  did  the  foreigners,  and,  if  Ave  may  judge  from  the 
continued  existence  of  a  censorship,  is  still  looked  upon  with  a 
certain  degree  of  suspicion.  The  Russian  political  economist, 
Ivan  Pososhkof,  writing  in  1701,  complains : 

'  The  Germans  have  cut  a  hole  through  from  our  land  into 
their  own,  and  from  outside  people  can  now,  through  this  hole, 
observe  all  our  political  and  commercial  relations.  This  hole  is 
the  post.  Heaven  knows  whether  it  brings  advantage  to  the 
Tsar,  but  the  harm  which  it  causes  to  the  realm  is  incalculable. 
Everything  that  goes  on  in  our  land  is  known  to  the  whole 
world.  The  foreigners  all  become  rich  by  it,  the  Russians  be- 
come poor  as  beggars.  The  foreigners  always  know  which  of 
our  goods  are  cheap  and  which  are  dear,  which  are  plentiful  and 
which  are  scarce.  Thereupon  they  bargain,  and  know  imme- 
diately how  much  they  are  obliged  to  pay  for  our  goods.  In 
this  way  trade  is  unequal.  Without  the  post,  both  sides  would 
be  ignorant  of  the  prices  and  the  stock  of  goods  on  hand,  and  no 
party  would  be  injured.  Besides,  it  is  a  very  bad  thing  that 
people  know  in  other  countries  everything  that  happens  in  ours. 
This  hole,  then,  should  be  shut  up — that  is,  the  post  should  be 


THE   LETTBE   POST.  207 

put  an  end  to;  and,  it  seems  to  me,  it  would  be  very  sensible 
not  to  allow  letters  to  be  sent,  even  through  messengers,  except 
with  a  special  permission  each  time  from  the  proper  authori- 
ties.' ' 


1  A.  Bruckner,  (JulturJiistorisdie  Stvdien,  Riga,  1878;  Gordon's  Diary; 
Adelung,  Uebersicht  der  Reisenden  in  Russland  ;  Ustrialof;  Relations  of  For- 
eigners about  the  False  Demetrius  (Russian) ;  Margeret,  Estat  del' Empire  de 
Rvssie,  Paris,  1G07  ;  Herberstein  ;  Olearius  ;  Korb  ;  Collins  ;  Pososhkof,  Works 
(Russian),  Moscow,  1842. 


XXII. 

PETER'S  FRIENDS  AND  LIFE  IN  THE  GERMAN  SUBURB. 

With  very  many  inhabitants  of  the  German  suburb  Peter 
had  already  made  acquaintance  at  Preobrazhensky,  and  as  the 
German  suburb  lay  on  the  road  from  Preobrazhensky  to  Mos- 
cow, it  is  not  improbable  that  he  occasionally  halted,  from  time 
to  time,  to  say  a  word  to  his  friends.  But  his  first  continued 
and  frequent  relations  with  the  foreign  quarter  began  in  1690, 
and  so  soon  after  the  death  of  the  Patriarch  that  it  would  seem 
almost  as  if,  in  dining  with  General  Gordon  on  May  10,  in  the 
company  of  his  boyars  and  courtiers,  he  was  actuated  in  some 
degree  by  a  spirit  of  opposition  to  the  feeling  against  foreigners 
then  prevalent  at  court.  Gordon  says  that  '  the  Tsar  was  well 
content,''  and  this  must  indeed  have  been  the  case.  Peter  must 
have  found  in  the  hospitality  shown  to  him  by  a  foreigner 
something  new  and  agreeable,  for,  from  this  time,  his  visits  t<> 
the  German  quarter  became  so  frequent  that,  at  one  period,  he 
seems  almost  to  have  lived  there.  For  a  long  time  his  most  in- 
timate and  trusted  friends  were  foreigners. 

The  name  of  General  Gordon  has  already  been  often  men- 
tioned. He  was  at  this  time  about  fifty-five  years  old,  the  foreign 
officer  of  the  greatest  experience  and  the  highest  position,  and, 
besides  this,  a  man  of  wide  information,  of  great  intelligence,  of 
agreeable  manners,  shrewd,  practical,  even  canny,  and  full  of 
good  common  sense,  a  devout  Catholic,  a  staunch  royalist,  in  the 
highest  degree  loyal,  honest  and  straightforward.  Patrick 
Gordon  was  one  of  the  well-known  and  illustrious  family  of 
Gordon;  by  his  motheran  ( )gilvie,  a  cousin  of  the  first  Duke 
of  Gordon,  and  connected  with  the  Earl  of  Errol  and  the  Earl 
of  Aberdeen,  he  was  born  on  the  family  estate  of  Auchluchries, 
in  Aberdeenshire,  in  It'.:;:).      Ilis  family  were  staunchly  Catholic 


1690.]  GENERAL   GORDON.  209 

and  royalist,  and  in  the  heat  of  the  Revolution  there  was  no 
chance  of  his  receiving  an  education  at  the  Scotch  universities, 
or  of  his  making  his  way  in  public  life,  so  that,  when  he  was 
only  sixteen,  he  resolved  on  going  abroad.  Two  years  he  passed 
in  the  Jesuit  college  at  Braunsberg,  but  the  quiet  life  of  the 
school  not  suiting  his  adventurous  spirit,  he  ran  away,  with  a 
few  thalers  in  his  pocket,  and  a  change  of  clothing  and  three  or 
four  books  in  his  knapsack.  After  staying  a  short  time  at  Kulm 
and  at  Posen,  he  found  his  way  to  Hamburg,  where  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  some  Scotch  officers  in  the  Swedish  service, 
and  was  readily  persuaded  to  join  them.  Tins  was  at  a  time 
when  very  many  foreigners,  and  especially  Scotchmen,  were 
serving  in  the  armies  of  other  countries.  This  was  the  era  of 
soldiers  of  fortune,  of  whom  Dugald  Dalgetty  is  the  type  best 
known  to  us,  but  of  whom  more  honourable  examples  could  be 
found.  Whether  officers  or  soldiers,  they  were  hired  to  fight, 
and  generally  fought  well  during  the  term  of  their  contract ; 
but  changing  masters  from  time  to  time  was  not  considered 
wrong  nor  disgraceful,  either  by  them  or  by  the  governments 
which  they  served.  Gordon,  after  being  twice  wounded,  was 
twice  taken  prisoner  by  the  Poles.  The  first  time  he  escaped, 
but  on  the  second  occasion,  as  the  band  with  whom  he  was 
caught  was  accused  of  robbing  a  church,  he  was  condemned  to 
death.  He  was  saved  through  the  intercession  of  an  old  Fran- 
ciscan monk,  and  was  then  persuaded  to  quit  the  Swedes  and 
enter  the  Polish  army.  A  few  months  later,  in  the  same  year, 
1658,  he  was  captured  by  the  Brandenburgers,  allies  of  the 
Swedes,  and  was  again  persuaded  to  join  the  Swedes.  Maraud- 
ing was  considered  at  that  time  a  necessary  part  of  Mar,  and 
Gordon  succeeded  several  times  in  filling  well  his  pockets,  of 
which  he  gives  an  honest  and  simple  account;  but  he  lost  every- 
thing in  a  fire,  and  once  was  himself  robbed.  For  a  while  he 
found  it  better  to  leave  the  service,  and  apparently  engaged 
with  some  of  his  friends  in  marauding  on  his  own  account,  and 
his  band  of  partisans  soon  became  well  known  through  the 
whole  region.  Again  he  entered  the  Swedish  service,  and  again, 
in  November  1G58,  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Poles,  who  could 
.not  be  persuaded  to  exchange  him,  and  insisted  on  his  again 
joining  them.  He  served  for  some  time  with  the  Poles  in  Little 
Vol.  I.— 14 


210  PETER   THE   GKEAT. 

Russia,  and  was  present  in  a  warm  l>attle  with  the  Russians, 
where  lie  was  wounded.  When  Charles  II.  ascended  the  English 
throne,  <  rordou  wished  to  go  home  to  Scotland,  but  Lubomirsky, 

the  Crown  Marshal  of  Poland,  persuaded  him  to  wait  a  little 
time,  and  promoted  him  to  the  rank  of  captain.  His  father 
meanwhile  wrote  to  him  that  there  would  be  little  chance  for 
him  at  home,  and,  at  the  same  time,  he  received  pressing  offers 
from  both  the  Russians  and  the  Austrians.  He  decided  in 
favour  of  the  Austrian  service,  but  the  negotiations  fell  through, 
and  he  finally  made  a  contract  with  the  Russians  for  three 
years.  It  was  only  when  he  had  arrived  at  Moscow  that  he 
found  that  the  contract  made  with  the  Russian  agent  was  re- 
pudiated, and  that  he  would  never  be  allowed  to  leave  the  Rus- 
sian service.  For  a  long  time  he  refused  to  take  the  oath,  and 
insisted  on  the  terms  of  the  contract.  He  finally  had  to  yield. 
All  his  efforts  to  resign  and  to  leave  Russia  were  fruitless,  and, 
apparently,  it  was  not  until  1692,  when  he  was  already  an  in- 
timate friend  of  the  Tsar,  that  he  entirely  gave  up  the  idea  of 
ending  his  days  in  Scotland.  Once  settled  in  Moscow,  he  found 
his  best  chance  for  promotion  lay  in  marrying,  and  thus  show- 
ing his  interest  in  the  country.  He  did  good  service  in 
the  Russian  army  wherever  he  was  placed — in  Little  Russia,  at 
Kief,  at  the  siege  of  Tchigirin,  and  in  the  Crimean  expeditions. 
He  had  long  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Government,  and 
was  in  intimate  social  relations  with  the  chief  Russian  boyars. 
Once,  on  account  of  his  influential  royalist  connections,  he 
had  been  sent  to  England  on  a  diplomatic  mission,  to  present  a 
letter  of  the  Tsar  Alexis  to  King  Charles  II.  with  reference  to 
the  privileges  of  the  English  merchants,  and  twice  he  had  been 
allowed  to  go  to  Scotland  for  personal  reasons,  but  his  wife  and 
children  were  on  each  occasion  kept  as  hostages  for  his  return. 
Gordon's  travels  had  brought  him  into  connection  with  many 
great  personages  of  the  time.  He  had  known  personally  Charles 
II.  and  James  II.,  and  had  been  presented  to  Queen  Christina 
after  she  had  left  Sweden.  Greatly  interested  in  foreign  poli- 
tics, he  everywhere  had  friends  and  acquaintances,  from  whom 
he  received  news,  gossip,  wine,  scientific  instruments  and  books 
— whether  '  Quarle's  Emblems,'  or  treatises  on  fortification  or 
pyrotechny.     With  all  his  friends,  with  his  relations  in  Scot- 


1(590.]  LEFOBT.  211 

Land,  Lord  Melfort  at  Rome,  ambassadors  and  Jesuits  at  Vienna, 
officers  in  Poland  and  at  Riga,  and  with  merchants  everywhere, 
lie  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence.  There  was  not  a  pofit- 
day  that  he  did  not  receive  many  letters,  and  send  off  an  equal 
number.  Of  many  of  these  he  kept  copies.  One  day  there  is 
an  entry  in  his  diary  of  his  despatching  twenty-six  letters. 

His  carefully  kept  diary,  in  which  he  set  down  the  occur- 
rences of  the  day — telling  of  his  doings,  the  people  he  had  met 
and  talked  with,  his  debts  and  expenses,  the  money  he  had  lent, 
his  purchases  of  wine  and  beer,  his  difficulties  about  his  pay — 
is  invaluable  to  the  student  of  the  political  as  well  as  of  the 
economical  history  of  Russia.1 

In  September  1600,  the  Tsar,  attended  by  his  suite,  dined 
with  General  Lefort.  This  was  the  first  time  that  Peter  had 
visited  a  man  whose  acquaintance  he  had  made  not  long  be- 
fore, who  wTas  soon  to  become  his  most  intimate  friend,  and  to 
exercise  great  influence  over  him.  Franz  Lefort  was  born  at 
Geneva  in  1656,  of  a  good  family  (originally  from  Italy),  which 
has  kept  a  prominent  position  in  Genevese  society  and  politics 
until  the  present  time.  His  father  was  a  well-to-do  merchant, 
and  his  elder  brother,  Ami,  was  one  of  the  syndics  of  the  town. 
At  this  time  Geneva  had  become  rich,  and  was  developing  a 
certain  amount  of  frivolity  and  luxury.  The  old  Calvinistic 
habits  were  being  corrupted  by  dancing  and  card-playing.  Paris 
was  looked  upon  as  the  home  of  the  arts  and  graces,  of  culture 
and  of  pleasure,  and  the  youths  of  Geneva  took  the  Parisians  as 
their  model.  The  schools  of  Geneva  were  famous,  and  the 
Protestant  princes  and  aristocracy  of  Germany  frequently  sent 
their  sons  to  finish  their  education  in  this  Protestant  stronghold. 
Without  neglecting  the  solid  studies  they  could  learn  French. 
and,  at  a  time  when  the  wars  made  visiting  Paris  impossible, 
could  learn  too  French  politeness  and  manners,  fencing,  danc- 
ing and  riding,  and  the  exercises  of  a  gentleman,  and  prepare 

1  This  diary  of  General  Gordon,  which  is  written  in  English  in  six  large 
quarto  volumes,  is  preserved  in  the  archives  at  St.  Petersburg.  Unfortu- 
nately, some  parts  are  missing,  notably  from  16G7-1C77,  and  from  1G78-1684. 
A  German  translation,  in  some  places  altered,  was  published  byPosselt,  1849- 
1852,  and  a  few  extracts  are  printed  from  the  original  manuscript  in  '  Pas- 
sages from  the  Diary  of  General  Patrick  Gordon,'  published  by  the  Spalding 
Club  at  Aberdeen  in  1859. 


212  PETEK   THE   GKREAT. 

themselves   for  holding  their  little  courts  in   rivalry  of  Louis 
XIV. 

These  princes  had  sometimes  as  many  as  a  dozen  gentlemen, 
comradesand  retainers,  with  them,  and  some  of  the  Lutheran 
princes  brought  a  style  of  life  not  at  all  in  harmony  with  the 
strict  Puritanical  and  Calvinistic  manners  of  the  place.  Much 
as  the  solid  burghers  of  Geneva  objected  to  the  contamination 
to  which  their  sons  were  exposed  by  mingling  with  this  gay  and 
worldly  society,  yet  they  had  too  much  respect  for  the  persons 
of  the  princes  to  take  very  strong  measures,  and  perhaps,  by 
their  too  great  deference,  increased  the  pretensions  of  the  young 
men  and  the  admiration  they  excited.  The  record  books  of 
the  consistory  arc  full  of  complaints  against  the  princes  and 
their  followers,  but  they  display  at  times  the  other  side.  The 
Prince  of  Hasse-Cassel  and  the  Prince  of  Curland  complained 
against  sonic  clergymen,  who,  they  said,  had  by  their  remon- 
sl  ranees  prevented  a  dancing  party  at  the  house  of  Count  Dohna 
(then  the  owner  of  the  chateau  of  Coppet,  which  was  afterward 
to  be  known  as  the  residence  of  Madame  de  Stael),  and  had 
thus  deprived  them  of  an  evening's  enjoyment.  The  Council 
recommended  that  more  respect  should  he  paid  to  people  of 
such  position.  Between  1670  and  1<;75,  no  less  than  twenty 
princes  of  reigning  families — in  the  Palatinate,  Wurtemburg, 
Anhalt,  Anspach,  Brandenburg,  Brunswick,  Holstein,  Saxony, 
Saxe-Gotha,  &c.  Arc. — were  receiving  their  education  at  Geneva, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  lesser  nobility.  Lefort,  whose  instincts 
had  already  taught  him  to  rebel  against  the  strict  discipline  of 
Calvinism,  had,  by  his  amiability  and  his  good  manners,  be- 
come an  intimate  member  of  this  society.  It  can  easily  be  Un- 
derstood that  late  suppers,  card-playing,  and  worldly  conversa- 
tion did  not  increase  any  desire  for  following  the  sober  life  of  a 
merchant  recommended  to  him  by  his  family.  To  get  him 
away  from  temptation,  he  was  sent  as  clerk  to  a  merchant  in 
Marseilles,  but  this  in  the  end  did  not  suit  him,  and  he  returned 
home.  Partly  from  his  own  feelings,  partly  from  the  example 
of  the  society  which  he  frequented,  he  had  a  great  inclination 
to  enter  the  military  service  and  see  a  little  of  war.  This,  be- 
sides  being  against  the  laws  and  policy  of  Geneva,  was  looked 
upon  with  horror  by  his  family,  who  did  all  in  their  power  to 


1690.]  LEFORT.  213 

prevent  him ;  but  he  finally  extorted  their  consent,  and  went  to 
Holland  to  take  part  in  the  war  then  going  on  in  the  Low  Conn- 
tries.  He  was  provided  with  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the 
hereditary  Prince  of  Cnrland  from  his  brother,  whose  friend  he 
had  been  at  Geneva,  and  served  as  a  volunteer  with  him,  al- 
though, through  the  intrigues  of  the  Cnrland  officers,  he  never 
succeeded  in  obtaining  a  commission.  Finally,  seeing  no  chance 
of  promotion,  he  left  the  prince,  and  M'as  persuaded  to  enter 
the  Russian  service  with  the  rank  of  captain.  Arriving  in  Rus- 
sia in  1675,  he  did  not  succeed  in  getting  the  position  he  de- 
sired, and  lived  for  two  years  at  Moscow  as  an  idler  in  the  Ger- 
man suburb,  where  he  enjoyed  the  friendship  and  protection  of 
some  of  the  more  distinguished  members  of  the  colony.  At  one 
time,  he  even  acted  as  a  secretary  for  the  Danish  Resident,  and 
intended  to  leave  Russia  with  him.  At  last  he  entered  the 
Russian  service,  and,  like  most  other  officers  who  wished  to  se- 
cure their  position,  married.  His  wife  was  a  connection  of 
General  Gordon.  His  personal  qualities  brought  him  to  the 
notice  of  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn,  who  protected  and  advanced 
him.  His  promotion  was  to  some  extent,  perhaps,  due  to  the 
interest  taken  in  him  by  the  Senate  of  Geneva,  which,  on  his 
suggestion,  addressed  to  Prince  Golitsyn  a  letter  in  his  behalf. 
After  serving  through  the  two  Crimean  campaigns,  he  went  to 
Troitsa,  along  with  the  other  foreign  officers,  at  the  time  of  the 
downfall  of  Sophia,  and  was  shortly  afterward,  on  the  birth  of 
the  Tsarevitch  Alexis,  promoted  to  be  major-general. 

At  this  time  about  thirty -five  years  old,  Lefort  was  in  all 
the  strength  of  his  manhood.  He  had  a  good  figure,  was  very 
tall — nearly  as  tall  as  Peter  himself,  but  a  little  stouter — had 
regular  features,  a  good  forehead,  and  rather  large  and  expres- 
sive eyes.  He  was  a  perfect  master  of  knightly  and  cavalier 
exercises,  could  shoot  the  bow  so  as  to  vie  with  the  Tartars  of 
the  Crimea,  and  was  a  good  dancer.  He  had  received  a  fair 
education  and  had  a  good  mind,  although  he  was  brilliant 
rather  than  solid,  and  shone  more  in  the  salon  than  in  the  camp 
or  the  council-chamber.  His  integrity,  his  adherence  to  his 
Protestant  principles  and  morality,  his  affection  for  his  family, 
and  especially  for  his  mother,  command  our  respect.  What 
endeared  him  to  all  his  friends  was  his  perfect  unselfishness, 


21  I  II.IKK   THE   GHEAT. 

frankness  and  simplicity,  his  geniality  and  readiness  for  amuse- 
ment, and  the  winning  grace  of  his  manners. 

It  i-,  qoI  astonishing  that  the  Tsar  found  Lefort  not  only  a 
contrast  to  the  Russians  by  whom  he  was  .surrounded,  but  also, 
in  certain  ways,  to  die  more  solid  but  less  personally  attractive 
representatives  of  the  foreign  colony,  such  as  Van  Keller  and 
Gordon.  To  Gordon,  Peter  went  for  advice,  to  Lefort  for 
>\  mpathy. 

From  this  time  on,  Peter  became  daily  more  intimate  with 
Lefort.  ILf  dined  with  him  two  or  three  times  a  week,  and 
demanded  his  presence  daily,  so  that  Butenant,  Sennebier,  and 
all  who  wrote  to  Geneva,  spoke  of  the  high  position  which 
Lefort  held,  and  his  nephew,  the  young  Peter  Lefort,  com- 
plained that  he  was  rarely  able  to  talk  to  his  uncle,  even  about 
business,  as  he  was  constantly  in  the  company  of  the  Tsar. 
The  letters  written  by  Lefort  to  Peter,  on  the  two  or  three 
occasions  when  they  were  separated  from  each  other,  show 
what  a  merry  boon  companion  he  was.  At  the  same  time,  no 
one,  except  Catherine,  was  able  to  give  Peter  so  much  sym- 
pathy, and  so  thoroughly  to  enter  into  his  plans.  Lefort  alone 
had  enough  influence  over  him  to  soothe  his  passions,  and  to 
prevent  the  consequences  of  his  sudden  outbursts  of  anger. 
\\  nile  Lefort  was  in  no  way  greedy  or  grasping,  his  material 
interests  were  well  looked  after  by  his  royal  friend.  His  debts 
were  paid;  a  house  was  built  for  him,  presents  of  all  kinds  were 
given  to  him,  and  he  was  rapidly  raised  in  grade,  first  to  lieu- 
tenant-general, then  to  full  general,  commander  of  the  first 
regiment,  admiral  and  ambassador.  Peter,  too,  entered  into 
correspondence  with  the  Senate  of  Geneva,  in  order  to  give 
testimony  at  Lefort's  home  of  the  esteem  in  which  he  held 
him. 

In  a  society  which  included  such  men  as  Lefort  and  Gordon. 
Van  Keller,  and  Butenant  A^on  Rosenbusch — the  Dutch  and 
Danish  envoys — and  representatives  of  such  good  and  well- 
known  names  as  Leslie,  Crawfuird.  Menzies,  Graham,  Bruce, 
Drammond,  Montgomery,  Hamilton  and  Dalziel,  not  to  men 
tion  the  eminent  Dutch  merchants,  it  was  natural  that  Peter 
should  find  many  persons  whose  conversation  was  interesting 
ami    u>eful   to  him.      IIi>  chief  friends,    however,  among    the 


1.  Prince  Gregory   Dolgoruky 

2.  Prince   Nikita  Repnine. 

3.  Prince   willi»m   dolgoruky. 

4.  Prince   Ramooanofsky. 

5.  Count  Theodore  apraxin. 

6.  Prince   Ivan   Troubetskoy. 

7.  Andrew  Matveief. 

8.  Prince   Eoris   Kurakin. 


1690.  J  thp:  company.  215 

foreigners  were  Von  Mengden,  the  colonel,  and  Adam  Weyde, 
the  major  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regiment,  in  which  Peter 
served  as  a  sergeant,  YVbrandt  hies,  who  was  soon  sent  on  a 
mission  to  China,  Colonel  Chambers,  Captain  Jacob  Bruce  and 
Andrew  Crafft,  the  English  translator  of  the  foreign  office — 
with  all  of  whom  he  was  in  constant  communication,  and  with 
whom,  during  his  absences,  he  frequently  exchanged  letters. 
But  a  surer  friend  and  assistant,  and  a  more  constant  corre- 
spondent, was  Andrew  \ rinius,  the  son  of  a  Dutch  merchant, 
who  had  established  iron-works  in  Russia  during  the  time  of 
the  Tsar  Michael.  His  mother  was  a  Russian.  He  therefore 
knew  Russian  well,  and  was  educated  in  the  Russian  religion. 
He  had  served  at  first  in  the  ministry  of  foreign  affairs,  but 
during  the  latter  years  of  Alexis,  had  been  given  charge  of  the 
post-office. 

Peter's  Russian  friends  were  chiefly  the  comrades  and  com- 
panions of  his  childhood,  most  of  whom  held  honorary  posi- 
tions at  court.  Such  were  Prince  Theodore  Troekurof,  Theo- 
dore Plestcheief,  Theodore  Apraxin,  Gabriel  Golofkin,  Prince 
Ivan  Trubetskoy,  Prince  Boris  Kurakin.  Prince  Xikita  Repnin, 
Andrew  Matveief,  and  Artemon  Golovin.  Most  of  these 
showed  by  their  after  life  that  they  had  been  educated  in  the 
same  school  with  Peter.  To  these  should  be  added  a  few- 
young  men  who  had  served  in  his  play-regiments,  and  who 
occupied  positions  in  the  nature  of  adjutants,  or  orderlies,  such 
as  Liikin  and  Yoronin.  There  were  besides,  a  few  men  far 
older  than  Peter,  who  were  personally  attached  to  him,  and 
nearly  always  with  him.  Such  were  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn, 
the  two  Dolgorukys,  Ivan  Buturlin,  Prince  Theodore  Ramo- 
danofsky,  his  early  teacher  Zotof,  and  Tikhon  Streshnef,  tin- 
head  of  the  expeditionary  department.  There  is  something  a 
little  curious  in  the  relation  of  these  older  men  to  Peter.  They 
served  him  faithfully,  and  were  on  occasion  put  forward  as 
figure-heads,  without  exercising  any  real  authority.  To  most  of 
them,  also,  Peter,  in  his  sportive  moments,  had  given  nick- 
names, and  both  he  and  they  always  used  these  nicknames  in 
their  correspondence.  Thus,  Zotof  was  called  the  'Prince 
Pope,"  from  a  masquerade  procession  in  which  he  officiated  in 
this  way,  surrounded  by  a  band  of  bishops,  priests  and  deacon s ; 


'j|t;  PETEE   THE   GBEAT- 

and  frequently  too,  in  masquerading  attire,  he  and  his  troop  of 
singers  wenl  aboul  al  Christmas-tide  to  sing  carols.  The  Boyar 
[van  Buturlin,  perhaps  the  oldest  of  them  all,  was  given  the 
title  of  'The  Polish  King,'  because,  in  one  of  the  military 
manoeuvres  of  which  we  shall  speak  presently,  he  had  that 
title  as  the  head  of  the  enemy's  army.  Prince  Ramodandfsky, 
the  other  generalissimo,  got  the  nickname  of  '  Prince  Caesar,' 
and  is  nearly  always  addressed  by  Peter  in  his  letters  as  w  Ma- 
jesty,' or  '  Min  Her  Kenich'  (My  Lord  King).  Streshnef,  in 
i  iic  -aim-  way,  was  always  called  'Holy  Father.' 

These,  with  many  more  of  the  younger  court  officials,  Tim- 
mermann  and  a  few  others,  formed  the  so-called  'company,' 
winch  went  about  everywhere  with  Peter,  and  feasted  with  him 
in  the  German  suburb,  and  with  the  Russian  magnates.  The 
'company'  went  to  many  Russian  houses,  as  well  as  among  the 
Germans.  Leo  Xaryshkin  Avas  always  glad  to  see  his  royal 
nephew  at  his  lovely  villa  of  Pokrofskoe  or  Phili.  A  splendid 
church  built  in  1(31)3,  in  the  choir  of  which  Peter  sometimes 
sang,  still  attests  his  magnificence,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  here 
that  Prince  Kutiizof  decided  on  the  abandonment  of  Moscow 
to  the  French  in  1812,  adds  yet  more  to  the  interest  of  the 
place.  Close  by  is  the  still  lovely  Kuntsovo,  then  inhabited  by 
Peter's  grandfather,  the  old  Cyril  ISaryshkin.  Prince  Boris 
Golitsyn,  who  was  much  more  than  the  drunkard  De  Neuville 
tells  us  of,  frequently  showed  his  hospitality.  Sherem&ief  re- 
ceived them  at  Kuskovo,  and  the  Soltykofs,  Apraxins,  and 
Matveiefs  were  not  behindhand. 

What  especially  attracted  Peter  and  his  friends  to  the  Ger- 
man suburb  was  the  social  life  there,  so  new  to  them  and  so 
different  from  that  in  the  Russian  circles.  There  was  plainly  a 
higher  culture;  there  was  more  refinement  and  less  coarseness  in 
the  amusements.  The  conversation  touched  foreign  politics  and 
the  events  of  the  day,  and  was  not  confined  to  a  recapitulation 
of  orgies  and  to  loose  talk— for  we  know  only  too  well  what  the 
ordinary  talk  at  Russian  banquets  was  at  that  time.  There  was 
novelty  and  attraction  in  the  occasional  presence  of  ladies,  in 
the  masking,  the  dancing,  the  family  feasts  of  all  kinds,  the 
weddings,  baptisms,  and  even  funerals.  In  many  of  these  Peter 
took  part.     He  held  Protestant  and  Catholic  children  at  the 


f~?%:£)r*^&e> 


I     ■■?■'■*'■■*$! 


■^ 


■% 


■    "fit  ,  Jf    >/ 


' 


' 


THE   STONE   JUG. 


1690.]  DRINKING  BOUTS.  217 

font,  lie  acted  as  best  man  at  the  marriages  of  merchants' 
daughters,  he  soon  became  an  accomplished  dancer,  and  was 
always  very  fond  of  a  sort  of  country-dance  known  as  the 
'  Grossvater.'  When,  too,  did  any  Russian  lose  a  chance  of  prac- 
tising a  foreign  language  which  he  could  already  speak? 

Dinner  was  about  noon,  and  the  feast  was  frequently  pro- 
longed till  late  in  the  night — sometimes  even  till  the  next  morn- 
ing. jSTaturally,  even  in  German  houses  at  this  epoch,  there 
was  excessive  drinking.  Gordon  constantly  speaks  of  it  in  his 
diary,  and  not  unseldoni  he  was  kept  in  his  bed  for  days  in  con- 
sequence of  these  bouts,  lie,  however,  suffered  from  a  consti- 
tutional derangement  of  his  digestion.  Peter  seemed  generally 
none  the  worse  for  it,  and  Lefort,  we  know  by  the  account  of 
Blomberg,  could  drink  a  great  quantity  without  showing  it. 
The  consumption  of  liquors  must  have  been  very  great,  for 
when  Peter  came  to  dine  he  frequently  brought  eighty  or  ninety 
guests  with  him,  and  a  hundred  servants.  Lefort,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  speaks  of  having  in  the  house  three  thousand  thalers' 
worth  of  wine,  which  would  last  only  for  two  or  three  months. 
Judging  from  the  prices  paid  by  Gordon  for  his  wine — his 
'canary  sect,'  his  'perniak,'  his  'white  hochlands  wine,'  and  his 
Spanish  wine — this  would  represent  now  a  sum  of  about  $25,- 
000.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that,  because  so  much  liquor  was 
used,  the  company  was  constantly  intoxicated.  Brandy  and 
whisky  were  drunk  only  before  or  between  meals ;  the  greatest 
consumption  was  probably  of  beer  and  of  the  weak  Russian 
drinks,  mead  and  hoas.  A  dinner  with  some  rich  provincial 
merchant,  or  a  day  with  some  hospitable  landed  proprietor  in 
the  south  of  Russia,  would  give  us  typical  examples  of  the  he- 
roic meals  Peter  and  his  friends  enjoyed,  with  their  caviare  and 
raw  herring,  their  cabbage  and  beet-root  soup,  their  iced  l>at- 
vinia  and  okroshka,  the  sucking  pig  stuffed  with  buckwheat,  the 
fish  pasty,  the  salted  cucumbers  and  the  sweets.  The  guests  did 
not  sit  at  the  table  mizzling;  the  whole  day  long.  There  were 
intervals  for  smoking,  and  the  Russians  enjo}'ed  the  interdicted 
tobacco.  There  were  games  at  bowls  and  nine-pins,  there  were 
matches  in  archery  and  musket  practice.  Healths  M*ere  pro- 
posed and  speeches  made,  attended  with  salvos  of  artillery  and 
blasts  of   trumpets.     A  band  of  German  musicians  played  at 


-_)|S  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

intervals  during  the  feasts,  and  in  the  evening  there  were  exhi- 
bitions of  fireworks  out-of-doors,  and  there  was  dancing  in-doors. 
Lefort,  in  a  Letter  describing  one  of  these  nights,  says  that  half 
the  company  slept  while  the  rest  danced. 

Such  Eeasts  as  these,  so  troublesome  and  so  expensive,  were 
a  burden  to  any  host,  and  we  know  that  Tan  Keller,  and  even 
Gordon,  were  glad  to  have  them  over.  When  Peter  had  got 
into  the  habit  of  dining  with  his  friends  at  Lefort's  two  or  three 
times  a  week,  it  was  impossible  for  Lefort,  with  his  narrow 
means,  to  support  the  expense,  and  the  cost  was  defrayed  by 
Peter  himself.  Lefort's  house  was  small,  and  although  a  large 
addition  was  made  to  it,  yet  it  was  even  then  insufficient  to  ac- 
commodate the  number  of  guests,  who  at  times,  exceeded  two 
hundred.  Peter  therefore  built  for  him,  at  least  nominally,  a 
new  and  handsome  house,  magnificently  furnished,  with  one 
banqueting  hall  large  enough  to  accommodate  fifteen  hundred 
guests.  Although  Lefort  was  called  the  master  of  the  house,' 
yet  it  was,  in  reality,  a  sort  of  club-house  for  Peter's  'company.' 
During  the  absence  of  Peter,  and  even  of  Lefort,  it  was  not 
uncommon  for  those  of  the  '  company'  remaining  at  Moscow  to 
dine,  sup,  and  pass  the  night  there. 

Peter  and  his  friends  entered  with  readiness  into  the  Teu- 
tonic custom  of  masquerading,  with  which,  according  to  the 
ruder  habits  of  that  time,  were  joined  much  coarse  horse-play, 
buffoonery,  and  practical  joking.  Together  with  his  comrades, 
Peter  went  from  house  to  house  during  the  Christmas  holidays, 
sang  carols,  and  did  not  disdain  to  accept  the  usual  gifts.  In 
fact,  if  these  were  not  forthcoming,  revenge  was  taken  on  the 
householder.  Korb,  the  Austrian  Secretary — for  these  sports 
were  kept  up  even  in  1699 — says  in  his  diary  : — 

'A  sumptuous  comedy  celebrates  the  time  of  Our  Lord's 
nativity.  The  chief  Muscovites,  at  the  Tsar's  choice,  shine  in 
various  sham  ecclesiastical  dignities.  '  One  represents  the  Patri- 
arch, others  metropolitans,  archimandrites,  popes,  deacons,  sub- 
deacons,  (fee.  Each,  according  to  whichever  denomination  of 
these  the  Tsar  has  given  him,  has  to  put  on  the  vestments 
that  belong  to  it.  The  scenic  Patriarch,  with  his  sham  metro- 
politans, and  the  rest  in  eighty  sledges,  and  to  the  number  of 
two  hundred,  makes  the  round  of  the  city  of  Moscow  and  the 


1690.]  MASQUERADING.  219 

( rerman  suburb,  ensigned  with  crosier,  mitre,  and  other  insignia 
of  liis  assumed  dignity.  They  all  stop  at  the  houses  of  the 
richer  Muscovites  and  German  officers,  and  sing  the  praises  of 
the  new-born  Deity,  in  strains  for  which  the  inhabitants  have 
to  pay  dearly.  After  they  had  sung  the  praises  of  the  new-born 
Deity  at  his  house,  General  Lefort  recreated  them  all  with 
pleasanter  music,  banqueting,  and  dancing. 

•  The  wealthiest  merchant  of  Muscovy,  whose  name  is  Fila- 
dflof,  gave  such  offence  by  having  only  presented  two  rubles  to 
the  Tsar  and  his  boyars,  who  sang  the  praises  of  God,  new-born, 
at  his  house,  that  the  Tsar,  with  all  possible  speed,  sent  off  a 
hundred  of  the  populace  to  the  house  of  that  merchant,  with  a 
mandate  to  forthwith  pay  to  every  one  of  them  a  ruble  each. 
But  Prince  Tcherkasky,  whom  they  had  nicknamed  the  richest 
rustic,  was  rendered  more  prudent  by  what  befell  his  neigh- 
bour :  in  order  not  to  merit  the  Tsar's  anger,  he  offered  a  thou- 
sand rubles  to  the  mob  of  singers.  It  behooved  the  Germans  to 
make  show  of  equal  readiness.  Everywhere  they  keep  the  table 
laid  ready  with  cold  viands,  not  to  be  found  unprepared/ 

Gordon,  during  all  these  years,  always  mentions  at  Christ- 
mas-tide the  companies  of  carol  singers,  among  whom  may  be 
particularly  remarked  Alexis  Menshikof  and  his  brother.  On 
one  occasion  he  says :  '  I  paid  them  two  rubles,  which  was  half 
too  much  ' 

Once  Peter  appeared  at  Lefort"s  with  a  suite  of  twenty-four 
dwarfs,  all  '  of  remarkable  beauty,'  and  all  on  horseback  ;  and 
a  few  days  after,  Peter  and  Lefort  rode  out  into  the  country  to 
exercise  this  miniature  cavalry.  In  1(395,  the  court  fool,  Jacob 
Turgenief,  was  married  to  the  wife  of  a  scribe.  The  wedding- 
took  place  in  a  tent  erected  in  the  fields  between  Preobrazhen- 
sky  and  Semenofsky.  There  was  a  great  banquet,  which  lasted 
three  days,  and  the  festivities  were  accompanied  by  processions. 
in  which  the  highest  of  the  Russian  nobles  appeared  in  ridicu- 
lous costumes,  in  cars  drawn  by  cows,  goats,  dogs,  and  even 
swine.  Turgenief  and  his  wife  at  one  time  rode  in  the  best 
velvet  carriage  of  the  court,  with  such  grandees  as  the  Golitsyns, 
Sheremetiefs,  and  Trubetskoys  following  them  on  foot.  In 
the  triumphal  entry  into  Moscow,  the  newly  married  pair 
rode  a  camel,  and  Gordon  remarks :  k  The  procession  was  ex- 


220  PETEB   TELE    GBEAT. 

traordinary  fine.'  Although  the  jesting  here  was  perfectly 
good-natured,  yet  it  may  have  been  carried  a  little  too  far, 
for  a  Eew  days  after  poor  Turgenief  died  suddenly  in  the 
night.1 


1  Gordon's  Diary ;  Posselt,  Lefort ;  Ustrialof,  II.  iv.  ;  Briickner,  Peter 
der  Gfro886  ;  Korb,  Diary  of  an  Austrian  Secretary  of  Legation,  translated  by 
Count  MacDonnell,  London,  1863. 


XXIII. 

FIREWORKS  AND   SHAM   FIGHTS.— 1090-1092. 

For  fully  five  years  Peter  left  the  government  to  be  car- 
ried on  by  his  ministers,  who  managed  affairs  in  the  good,  old- 
fashioned  Russian  way.  During  the  whole  of  this  time  not  a 
single  important  law  was  passed,  nor  a  decree  made  with  regard 
to  any  matter  of  public  welfare.  Peter  neither  interested  him- 
self in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  country  nor  in  the  increasing 
difficulties  with  Poland,  and  the  need  of  repressing  the  incur- 
sions of  the  Tartars.  In  spite  of  his  years,  his  size,  and  his 
strength,  he  was  nothing  but  a  boy,  and  acted  like  a  boy.  He 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  amusement,  to  carousing  with  his 
'  company,*'  to  indulging  his  mechanical  tastes,  to  boat-building, 
and  to  mimic  war.  He  had  no  inclination  toward  the  more 
brutal  pastimes  so  much  enjoyed  by  the  old  Tsars,  but,  at  the 
same  time,  he  had  no  taste  for  horsemanship  or  field  sports,  and 
did  not  care  for  the  chase,  either  with  dogs  or  falcons.  Sokol- 
niki,  with  its  hunting-lodge,  fell  into  decay.  Its  name  still  re- 
calls the  falconers  of  old,  but  the  May-day  festival  now  held 
there,  with  the  outspread  tents,  which  bear  the  appellation  of 
'the  German  camp,'  takes  us  back  to  Peter  and  the  German 
suburb. 

During  the  '  Butter- Week '  or  carnival  of  1090,  Peter  gave 
on  the  banks  of  the  river  Presna,  in  honour  of  the  birth  of  his 
son  Alexis,  a  display  of  fireworks,  made  in  part  by  himself— 
the  first  at  that  time  seen  in  Moscow,  for  previously  he  had 
confined  his  experiments  to  Preobrazhensky.  These  displays 
were  not  always  unattended  with  danger.  A  five-pound  rocket, 
instead  of  bursting  in  the  air,  came  down  on  the  head  of  a  gen- 
tleman, and  killed  him  on  the  spot ;  at  another  time,  an  explo- 
sion of  the  material  wounded  Franz  Timinermann  and  Captain 


222 


PETEE   THE   GREAT. 


Strasburg,  son-in-law  of  General  Gordon,  and  killed  three  work- 
men. Al8  -""ii  as  tlic  river  Moskva  had  got  clear  of  ice,  Peter 
organised  a  flotilla  of  small  row-boats,  and  going  aboard  of  his 
yacht  (the  same  which  he  had  found  at  Ismailovo),  sailed  with 
a  company  <>f  boyars  and  courtiers  down  the  river  as  far  as  the 
monastery  of  St.  Nicholas  of  Ugretch,  and  spent  some  days 
feasting  in  the  neighbourhood,  lie  no  sooner  returned  to 
Moscow  than  he  prepared  for  some  military  manoeuvres,  and 
stormed  the  palace  at  Semenofsky.  Hand-grenades  and  fire- 
pots  wore  freely  used,  but  even  when  slightly  charged  or  made 
of  pasteboard  these  were  dangerous  missiles,  and  by  the  burst- 
ing of  one  of  them  the  Tsar  and  several  of  his  officers  were 
injured.    Peter's  wounds  were  probably  not  light,  for  he  ceased 


Model  of  a  Ship  Built  by  Peter.     From  the   Marine  Museum,   St.   Petersburg. 

his  amusements,  and  appeared  rarely  in  public  from  June  until 
September,  when  other  mock  combats  were  fought  between  the 
guards  and  various  regiments  of  Streltsi.  In  one  of  these  Gen- 
eral Gordon  was  wounded  in  the  thigh,  and  had  his  face  so 
severely  burnt  that  he  was  kept  a  week  in  bed. 

The  following  summer  was  passed  in  much  the  same  way. 
At  the  opening  of  navigation,  a  new  yacht,  built  by  Peter's  own 
unassisted  hands,  was  launched  on  the  Moskva,  and  again  there 
was  a  merry  excursion  to  the  monastery  of  Ugretch,  in  spite  of 
stormy  weather.  Military  exercises  then  continued  all  the  sum- 
mer at  Preobrazhensky,  and  a  grand  sham  battle  was  ordered. 
Tli  is  was  postponed  for  two  months  on  account  of  the  serious 
illness  of  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia,  and  took  place  only  in  the  month 
-I  October.    Two  armies  were  engaged ;  the  Russian,  consisting 


\    r> 


1691.]  SHAM   FIGHTS.  ±>') 

chiefly  of  Peter's  play  troops,  or  guards,  commanded  by  Prince 
Theodore  Ramodanofsky,  to  whom  was  given  the  title  of  the 
Generalissimo  Frederick,  was  matched  against  the  Streltsi  un- 
der Generalissimo  Buturlin.  The  fight  lasted  live  days,  and 
resulted  in  the  victory  of  the  Russian  army,  though  not  with- 
out disaster,  for  Prince  Ivan  Dolgoriiky  died,  as  Gordon  says, 
'  of  a  shot  got  nine  days  before,  in  the  right  arm,  at  the  Held 
ballet  military.' 

Tired  of  his  soldiers,  Peter  again  turned  to  his  boats,  and  at 
the  end  of  November  1691,  went  to  Lake  Plestcheief,  where  he 
had  not  been  for  more  than  two  years.  He  remained  there  a 
fortnight,  in  a  small  palace  built  for  him  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake,  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Pereyaslavl.  It  was  a  small,  one- 
story,  wooden  house,  with  windows  of  mica,  engraved  with  dif- 
ferent ornaments,  the  doors  covered  for  warmth  with  white  felt, 
and  on  the  roof  a  two-headed  eagle,  surmounted  by  a  gilt  crown. 
During  the  course  of  the  next  year  he  visited  the  lake  four 
times,  on  two  occasions  staying  more  than  a  month.  He  oc- 
cupied himself  with  building  a  ship,  as  he  had  been  ordered  to 
do  by  '  His  Majesty'  the  generalissimo,  Prince  Ramodanofsky, 
and  worked  so  zealously  that  he  was  unwilling  to  return  to 
Moscow  for  the  reception  of  the  Persian  ambassador,  and  it 
was  necessary  for  Leo  Naryshkin  and  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn  to 
go  expressly  to  Pereyaslavl  to  show  him  the  importance  of  re- 
turning for  the  reception,  in  order  not  to  offend  the  Shah.  Two 
days  after,  he  went  back  to  his  work,  and  invited  the  '  com- 
pany '  to  the  launch.  Only  one  thing  remained  to  complete  his 
satisfaction,  and  that  was  the  presence  of  his  family.  His 
mother,  sister,  and  wife  finally  went  to  Pereyaslavl  in  August 
1692,  with  the  whole  court,  and  remained  there  a  month,  ap- 
parently with  great  enjoyment.  Troops  came  up  from  Mos- 
cow, and  the  whole  time  was  spent  in  banquets,  in  parties  on 
the  water,  and  in  military  and  naval  manoeuvres.  The  Tsaritsa 
Natalia  even  celebrated  her  name's-day  there,  and  did  not  re- 
turn to  Moscow  until  September,  ill  and  fatigued  with  this  un- 
accustomed life. 

Tier  illness  soon  passed  over,  but  Peter  was  seized  with  a 
violent  attack,  from  his  too  hard  work  and  his  over  indulgence 
in  dissipation.     In  November,  he  was  taken  down  with  a  dysen- 


224  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

fcery  which  kepi  him  in  bed  for  six  weeks.  At  one  time  his 
life  was  despaired  of.  It  is  reported  that  his  favourites  were 
aghast,  as  they  fell  confident  that  in  case  of  his  death  Sophia 
would  again  ascend  the  throne,  and  that  nothing  but  exile  or 
the  scaffold  awaited  them;  and  it  is  said  that  Prince  Boris 
Golitsyn,  Apraxin,  and  Plestcheief  had  horses  ready,  in  order, 
in  case  of  emergency,  to  tieefrom  Moscow.  Toward  Christmas^ 
Peter  began  to  mend,  and  by  the  middle  of  February  1693,  al- 
though still  not  entirely  recovered,  was  able  to  go  about  the 
city,  and,  in  the  quality  of  best  man,  invite  guests  to  the  mar- 
riage of  a  German  gold-worker.  In  the  same  capacity,  he  took 
upon  himself  the  ordering  of  the  marriage  feast  and  plied  the 
company  well  with  drink,  although  he  himself  drank  little. 
Apparently  from  this  illness  date  the  fits  of  melancholy,  the 
convulsive  movements  of  the  muscles,  and  the  sudden  outbursts 
of  passionate  anger  with  which  Peter  was  so  sadly  afflicted. 

During  the  carnival,  the  Tsar  again  gave  an  exhibition  of 
fireworks  on  the  banks  of  the  Presna.  After  a  thrice-repeated 
salute  of  fifty-six  guns,  a  flag  of  white  flame  appeared,  bearing  on 
it  in  Dutch  letters  the  monogram  of  the  generalissimo,  Prince 
Ramodanofsky,  and  afterward  was  seen  a  fiery  Hercules  tear- 
ing apart  the  jaws  of  a  lion.  The  fireworks  were  followed  by 
a  supper,  which  lasted  till  three  hours  after  midnight.  The 
Tsaritsa  was  so  pleased  with  the  fiery  Hercules  that  she  pre- 
sented her  son — the  master  fire-worker — with  the  full  uniform 
of  a  sergeant  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regiment. 

As  soon  as  the  carnival  was  over,  Peter  went  again  to  Pere- 
yaslavl,  where  he  stayed  at  work  during  the  whole  of  Lent, 
and  in  May  went  there  again,  and  sailed  for  two  weeks  on  the 
lake.  This  was  his  last  visit,  for  he  soon  went  to  a  larger  field 
of  operations,  on  the  White  Sea,  and  visited  Pereyaslavl  only 
in  passing  from  Moscow  to  Archangel,  and  again  before  the 
Azof  campaign,  to  get  the  artillery  material  stowed  there. 
After  that,  he  was  not  there  again  for  twenty-five  years — until 
L722,  when  on  his  road  to  Persia.  He  then  lamented  over 
the  rotten  and  neglected  ships,  and  gave  strict  instructions  that 
the  remnants  of  them  should  be  carefully  preserved.  These 
orders  were  not  obeyed,  and  of  the  whole  flotilla  on  Lake 
Plestcheief  there  now  exists  only  one  small  boat,  whieh  was 


1693.]  THE   FLOTILLA.  225 

preserved  by  the  peasants,  and  since  1803  has  been  kept  in  a 
special  building,  under  the  direction  of  the  local  nobility, 
guarded  by  retired  sailors.  There  remains  nothing  else  but  the 
name  of  the  Church  of  Our  Lady  at  the  Ships,  and  a  festival 
on  the  sixth  Sunday  after  Easter,  in  commemoration  of  Peter's 
launch,  when  all  the  clergy  of  Pereyaslavl,  attended  by  a 
throng  of  people,  sail  on  a  barge  to  the  middle  of  the  lake, 
and  bless  the  waters. 

The  revival  of  Peter's  interest  in  boat-building  and  naviga- 
tion was  probably  due  in  part  to  the  conversations  which  he 
had  heard  among  his  foreign  friends.  He  had  dined  with  the 
Dutch  Resident,  Tan  Keller,  in  June  1691,  and  both  from  him 
and  from  the  Dutch  merchants  whom  he  was  constantly  meet- 
ing he  heard  expressions  of  joy  that  the  commercial  intercourse 
between  Archangel  and  Holland,  which  had  been  interrupted 
for  two  years  by  the  French  cruisers,  had  at  last  been  renewed. 
All  the  goods  had  been  detained  at  Archangel,  and  there  had 
been  a  general  stagnation  of  trade ;  but  now  that  the  Dutch 
had  sent  a  convoy  into  the  North  Sea,  several  merchant  vessels 
had  safely  reached  their  destination.  Together  with  this  news, 
came  the  intelligence  that  the  richly  laden  Dutch  fleet  from 
Smyrna  had  also  arrived  at  Amsterdam,  without  mishap. 
About  the  same  time,  Peter  had  received  from  Nicholas  Wit- 
sen,  the  Burgomaster  of  Amsterdam — who  had  been  in  Russia 
years  before,  and  had  written  a  very  remarkable  book,  the 
'Description  of  North  and  East  Tartary,'— a  letter,  urging  the 
importance  of  the  trade  with  China  and  Persia,  and  suggesting 
means  for  its  advancment.  It  was  in  consequence  of  this  letter 
that  Ysbrandt  Ides  was  sent  on  a  mission  to  China,  and  this, 
together  with  the  talk  about  the  Dutch  trade,  had  doubtless 
given  Peter  some  new  ideas  of  the  importance  to  the  country 
of  commerce,  and  of  its  protection  by  ships  of  war.  In  the 
despatches  which  Tan  Keller  wrote  about  Peters  occupations 
on  Lake  Plestcheief,  he  remarks  :  '  The  Tsar  seems  to  take  into 
consideration  commerce  as  well  as  Avar.'  Subsequently  he  men- 
tions the  proposed  sham-fight,  but  says  that  the  people  of  Mos- 
cow augured  no  good  of  it.  After  reporting  that  he  had  in- 
formed Peter  of  the  great  victory  which  King  "William  and  the 
English  fleet  had  obtained  over  the  French  at  La  Hogue,  he 
Vol.  I.  -15 


226  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

says  that  Peter  desired  to  see  the  original  despatch,  and  had  it 
translated;  'Whereupon  it  followed  that  his  Tsarish  Majesty, 
leaping  up  and  shouting  for  joy,  ordered  his  new  ships  to  fire  a 
salute/  In  another  despatch,  he  wrote  that  this  young  hero 
often  expressed  the  great  desire  that  possessed  him  to  take  part 
in  the  campaign  against  the  French  under  King  William,  or  to 
give  him  assistance  by  sea.1 

1  Solovief,  xiv. ;  Ustrialof,  II.  v. ;  Bruckner,  Peter  der  Grosse;  Gordon's 
Diary;  Posselt,  Lefort;  Kochen's  Despatches  in  Russian  Antiquity  (Russian), 
for  1878  ;  Reports  of  Dutch  residents  in  archives  at  the  Hague. 


XXIV. 

PETER  TRIES   THE  OPEN  SEA. —1693-4. 

Xo  doubt  the  English  victory  at  La  Hogue,  and  the  revival 
of  the  trade  with  Holland,  had  much  to  do  with  Peter's  visit  to 
Archangel.  He  himself,  writing  long  afterward,  when  he  was, 
perhaps  unconsciously,  inclined  to  magnify  the  importance  of 
his  early  doings,  says,  in  the  preface  to  the  Maritime  Regula- 
tions : 

'  For  some  years  I  had  the  fill  of  my  desires  on  Lake 
Pereyaslavl,  but  finally  it  got  too  narrow  for  me.  I  then  went 
to  the  Kiibensky  Lake,  but  that  was  too  shallow.  I  then  de- 
cided to  see  the  open  sea,  and  began  often  to  beg  the  permission 
of  my  mother  to  go  to  Archangel.  She  forbade  me  such  a 
dangerous  journey,  but  seeing  my  great  desire  and  my  un- 
changeable longing,  allowed  it  in  spite  of  herself.' 

Although  the  Tsaritsa  Xatalia  allowed  her  son  to  visit 
Archangel  and  the  "White  Sea,  she  exacted  a  promise  from  him 
that  he  would  not  go  out  upon  the  sea,  and  would  look  at  it 
only  from  the  shore. 

Peter  set  out  from  Moscow  on  July  11,  1693,  with  a  suite 
of  over  a  hundred  persons,  including  Lefort  and  many  of  the 
'company,'  his  physician,  Dr.  Yan  der  Hulst,  a  priest,  eight 
singers,  two  dwarfs,  forty  Streltsi,  and  ten  of  his  guards. 

The  journey  from  Moscow  to  Archangel  was,  till  a  few  years 
since,  performed  in  much  the  same  way  as  it  was  by  Peter.  A 
railway  is  now  substituted  for  the  carriage-road  to  Vologda, 
but  from  that  town  one  must  go  by  water  down  the  Sukhon 
and  the  Dvfna.  With  the  high  water  of  spring,  it  is  easy 
enough,  but  the  rivers  were  then  so  low  that  Peter's  huge 
painted  barge  was  two  weeks  on  the  way  before  it  arrived  at 
the  wharf  of  Holmogory,  to  the  ringing  of  the  cathedral  bells. 


228  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

Bolmog6n  was  then  the  administrative  centre  for  the  north  of 
Russia,  and  it  was  necessary  to  do  the  usual  courtesies  to  the 
Voiev6de  and  the  Archbishop,  before  the  Tsar  could  pass  the  long 
and  narrow  town  of  Archangel,  stretching  along  the  right  hank 
of  the  Dvfna,  with  its  clean  German  suburb  and  its  port  of 
Solombala,  crowded  then,  as  now,  with  merchants,  and  take  up 
his  residence  beyond  the  city,  in  a  house  prepared  for  him  on 
the  Moses  Island.  The  salt  smell  of  the  sea  was  grateful  and 
exciting,  and  the  day  after  his  arrival  he  went  on  board  the 
little  yacht  kSt.  Peter,'  which  had  been  built  for  him,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  promise  to  his  mother,  anxiously  waited  for  a 
favourable  wind  to  carry  him  to  sea.  A  proposed  visit  to  the 
Solovetsky  monastery  was  postponed  to  another  year,  for 
various  English  and  Dutch  vessels  "were  about  sailing,  and  he 
w  as  anxious  to  visit  them,  and  to  convoy  them  on  their  way.  In 
about  a  week,  on  August  16,  a  fair  wind  arose,  the  ships  set  out, 
and  Peter  sailed  on  merrily  in  his  yacht ;  he  had  gone  two 
hundred  miles  from  Archangel,  and  was  near  the  Polar  Ocean, 
before  he  realised  that  it  was  full  time  to  return.  On  arriving 
at  Archangel,  five  days  afterward,  his  first  care  was  to  write  to 
his  mother,  that  he  had  been  to  sea  and  had  safely  returned. 
Meanwhile  she  had  written  to  him,  urging  his  return.  In  reply 
to  this  letter,  he  said : 

'  Thou  hast  written,  O  lady !  that  I  have  saddened  thee  by 
not  writing  of  my  arrival.  But  even  now  I  have  no  time  to 
write  in  detail,  because  I  am  expecting  some  ships,  and  as  soon 
as  they  come — when  no  one  knows,  but  they  are  expected  soon, 
as  they  are  more  than  three  weeks  from  Amsterdam — I  shall 
come  to  thee  immediately,  travelling  day  and  night.  But  I  beg 
thy  mercy  for  one  thing:  why  dost  thou  trouble  thyself  about 
me?  Thou  hast  deigned  to  write  that  thou  hast  given  me  into 
the  care  of  the  Virgin.  "When  thou  hast  such  a  guardian  for 
me,  why  dost  thou  grieve  ? ' 

This  letter  was  preceded  to  Moscow  by  the  news  that  Peter 
had  gone  on  a  sea  journey.  Everyone  was  alarmed  at  an  event, 
the  like  of  wdiich  had  never  happened  before  in  Russia,  and 
magnified  the  dangers  to  which  the  Tsar  had  been,  or  might 
be,  exposed.  Natalia  wrote  again  to  her  son.  urging  Iiks  return, 
expressing  joy  at  his  not  being  shipwrecked,  and  reminding  him 


1693.]  ARCHANGEL.  229 

that  lie  had  promised  not  to  go  to  sea.  She  even  had  a  letter 
written  in  the  name  of  his  little  son  Alexis,  then  only  three 
years  old,  begging  him  to  come  back.     To  this  he  replied  : 

'  By  thy  letter  I  see,  Oh  !  Oh  !  that  thou  hast  been  mightily 
grieved,  and  why  \  If  thou  art  grieved,  what  delight  have  I  '. 
I  beg  thee  make  my  wretched  self  happy  by  not  grieving  about 
me,  for  in  very  truth  I  cannot  endure  it.' 

Again,  on  September  18,  he  writes : 

'  Thou  hast  deigned  to  write  to  me,  O  my  delight !  to  say 
that  I  should  write  to  thee  of tener.  Even  now  I  write  by  every 
post,  and  my  only  fault  is  that  I  do  not  come  myself.  And  thou 
also  tellest  me  not  to  get  ill  by  too  quick  a  journey.  But  I, 
thank  God  !  shall  try  not  to  get  ill,  except  by  coming  too  quickly. 
But  thou  makest  me  ill  by  thy  grief,  and  the  Hamburg  ships 
have  not  yet  arrived.' 

It  was  not  merely  curiosity  to  see  the  Hamburg  ships  that, 
kept  Peter  at  Archangel.  Ever  since  the  discovery  of  the 
White  Sea  by  Richard  Chancellor,  in  1553,  and  the  privileges 
given  to  the  English  factory  by  Ivan  the  Terrible,  and  Philip 
and  Mary,  Archangel  had  become  the  great  emporium  for  Rus- 
sian commerce  with  the  West.  The  business  of  Xovgorod  had 
been  greatly  injured  by  the  loss  of  its  independence  and  the 
misfortunes  which  befell  the  town,  and  its  trade  was  now  chiefly 
transferred  to  Archangel.  During  the  summer  months,  that 
town,  conveniently  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Dvma, 
presented  a  spectacle  of  great  commercial  activity.  At  the  time 
of  the  annual  fair  of  the  Assumption,  as  many  as  a  hundred 
ships,  from  England,  Holland,  Hamburg,  and  Bremen,  could  be 
seen  in  the  river,  with  cargoes  of  various  descriptions  of  foreign 
goods,  while  huge  Russian  barges  brought  hemp,  grain,  potash, 
tar,  tallow,  Russian  leather,  isinglass  and  caviare  down  the  Dvi'na. 
For  caviare  there  was  a  great  market  in  Italy,  and  several  car- 
goes were  sent  every  year  to  Leghorn.  The  foreign  merchants 
who  lived  in  Moscow,  Yaroslav,  and  Vologda  went  to  Archangel 
with  the  opening  of  the  navigation  every  spring,  and  stayed 
there  until  winter.  Twenty -four  large  houses  were  occupied  by 
foreign  families  and  the  agents  of  foreign  merchants.  Depots 
for  all  the  goods  sent  to  Archangel,  both  Russian  and  foreign, 
had  been  built  by  the  foreigners  Marselis  and   Scharff,  at  the 


230  PETER   THE  GREAT. 

command  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  and  were  protected  by  a  high 
Btone   wall  and  towers.     Trade  had   now  revived,  and,  in  the 

summer  of  L693,  ships  were  constantly  arriving,  and  Archangel 
was  alive  with  business.  On  the  wharfs  and  at  the  exchange, 
Peter  could  meet  merchants  of  every  nationality,  and  see  car- 
goes of  almost  every  kind.  Jt  was  a  grief  to  him  that  among 
all  these  ships  there  were  none  belonging  to  Russians,  nor  any 
sailing  under  the  Russian  flag.  The  efforts  of  the  Russians  to 
export  their  own  produce  had  never  been  successful.  At  Nov- 
gorod there  had  been  a  league  among  all  the  merchants  of  the 
J  Lanse  Towns  to  prevent  the  competition  of  Russian  merchants, 
and  to  buy  Russian  goods  only  at  Novgorod.  At  a  later  time, 
an  enterprising  merchant  of  Yaroslav,  Anthony  Liiptef,  took  a 
cargo  of  furs  to  Amsterdam,  but,  in  consequence  of  a  cabal 
against  him,  he  could  not  sell  a  single  skin,  and  was  obliged  to 
carry  his  furs  back  to  Archangel,  where  they  were  at  once 
bought,  at  a  good  price,  by  the  Dutch  merchants  who  owmed 
the  vessel  which  brought  them  home. 

Peter  resolved  to  do  something  for  Russian  trade,  and  gave 
orders  to  Apraxin,  whom  he  named  Governor  of  Archangel,  to 
fit  out  two  vessels  at  the  only  Russian  shipyard,  that  of  the 
brothers  Bazhenin,  on  the  little  river  Vavtchuga,  near  Holmo- 
gory.  These  were  to  take  cargoes  of  Russian  goods,  and  to  sail 
under  the  Russian  flag.  He  hesitated  where  to  send  them.  In 
England  and  Holland  he  feared  the  opposition  of  the  native 
merchants,  and  in  France  he  was  afraid  that  due  respect  might 
n<  >t  be  given  to  the  Russian  flag.  It  was  at  last  resolved  to  send 
them  to  France,  but  as  they  finally  sailed  under  the  Dutch, 
and  not  under  the  Russian  flag,  one  of  them  was  confiscated  by 
the  French,  and  was  the  subject  of  long  dispute. 

Archangel  proved  so  interesting  that  Peter  decided  to  re- 
turn there  in  the  subsequent  year,  and  to  take  a  trip  on  the 
.Northern  Ocean.  He  even  had  vague  ideas  of  coasting  along 
Siberia  until  he  came  to  China,  but  the  Xorth-east  passage  was 
not  to  be  effected  until  our  own  day.  For  any  purpose  of  this 
kind,  his  little  yacht  "St.  Peter'  was  too  small,  and  he,  there- 
fore, with  his  own  hands,  laid  the  keel  of  a  large  vessel  at  Arch- 
angel, and  ordered  another  full-rigged  forty-four-gun  frigate  to 
be  1 1<  .light  in  Holland.     The  Burgomaster  of  Amsterdam,  Xich- 


1693.]  ARCHANGEL.  231 

olas  "VVitsen,  through  Lefort  and  Vinius,  was  entrusted  with  the 
purchase. 

AVliile  at  Archangel,  besides  the  time  which  lie  gave  to  the 
study  of  commerce  and  ship-building,  Peter  found  leisure  for 
inspecting  various  industries,  and  for  practising  both  at  the 
forge  and  at  the  lathe.  A  chandelier  made  of  walrus  teeth, 
turned  by  him,  hangs  now  over  his  tomb  in  the  Cathedral  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  carved  work  in 
bone  and  wood,  and  iron  bars  forged  by  him  at  this  time,  are 
shown  in  many  places.  Besides  the  social  pleasures,  the  balls 
and  dinners,  in  which  he  indulged  at  Archangel  as  much  as  at 
Moscow,  he  frequently  attended  the  neighbouring  church  of  the 
Prophet  Elijah,  where  he  himself  read  the  epistle,  sang  with 
the  choir,  and  made  great  friends  with  the  Archbishop  Atha- 
nasius,  a  learned  and  sensible  man,  with  whom,  after  dinner, 
he  conversed  about  affairs  of  state,  the  boyars,  the  peasants 
who  were  there  for  work,  the  construction  of  houses  and  the 
foundation  of  factories,  as  well  as  of  ship-building  and  naviga- 
tion. 

After  the  short  summer  was  over,  the  Hamburg  ships  hav- 
ing long  since  arrived,  Peter  started  on  his  homeward  journey, 
and  after  stopping  for  a  short  time  at  the  saw-mills  and  wharfs 
of  the  brothers  Bazhenin,  on  the  Vavtchuga,  arrived  at  Mos- 
cow on  October  11.  It  was  too  late  in  the  season  at  that  time 
to  think  of  any  military  manoeuvres,  and  Peter  had  settled 
down  to  his  usual  round  of  carouses  and  merry-making,  when 
suddenly,  on  February  1,  1694,  after  an  illness  of  only  five 
days,  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia  died,  at  the  age  of  forty-two. 

For  some  reason  or  other,  Peter  preferred  not  to  be  present 
at  his  mother's  death-bed.  A  dispute  with  the  Patriarch  had 
probably  something  to  do  with  it.  It  is  said  that  when  Peter 
had  been  suddenly  called  from  Preobrazhensky  to  the  Kremlin, 
to  his  mother's  bedside,  he  appeared  in  the  foreign  clothes 
which  he  wore  for  riding,  and  that  the  Patriarch  remonstrated 
with  him.  Peter  angrily  replied  that,  as  the  head  of  the 
church,  he  should  have  weightier  things  to  attend  to,  than  to 
meddle  with  the  business  of  tailors.     General  Gordon  says : 

'  His  Majesty  had  promised  to  come  to  me  to  a  farewell  sup- 
per and  ball.     I  went  to  the  palace  two  hours  before  daybreak, 


232  PETEB   THE  CHEAT. 

but  did  not  find  His  Majesty,  on  account  of  the  evident  danger 
in  which  his  mother  was.  Jlehad  taken  leave  of  her,  and  had 
gone  back  to  his  house  at  Preobrazhensky,  whither  J  hastened, 
and  found  him  in  the  highest  degree  melancholy  and  dejected. 
Toward  eight  o'clock  came  the  news  that  the  Tsaritsa  was  dead.' 
Peter's  grief  was  great  and  sincere.  For  several  days  ho 
scarcely  saw  any  one  without  bursting  into  a  lit  of  weeping. 
He  had  tenderly  loved  his  mother,  and  had  been  mnch  under 
her  influence,  although  she  had  opposed  his  desire  for  novelty 
and  his  inclination  toward  foreigners.  Her  place  in  his  affec- 
tions was,  to  a  great  extent,  taken  by  his  sister  Xatalia,  wdio, 
without  understanding  his  objects,  at  least  sympathized  with 
him.  She  was  of  the  younger  generation,  not  so  averse  to 
what  was  new  or  what  came  from  abroad,  was  readily  influenced 
by  her  brother,  and,  like  a  good  and  faithful  sister,  loved  and 
admired  him,  and  was  always  ready  to  believe  that  whatever 
he  did  was  the  best  thing  possible.  As  to  his  wife  Eudoxia,  it 
is  difficult  to  say  mnch.  She  had  been  brought  up  in  the  old- 
fashioned  Russian  way,  and  had  received  almost  no  education. 
She  had  a  bitter  dislike  to  all  that  was  foreign,  and  to  the 
friends  by  whom  Peter  was  surrounded.  This  was  perhaps 
natural :  she  disliked  the  men,  who,  as  she  thought,  alienated 
her  husband  from  her.  The  marriage  had  not  been  one  of 
love ;  Peter  had  married  simply  to  obey  his  mother,  and  found 
the  society  of  his  wife  so  uncongenial  that  he  spent  very  little 
time  with  her.  Twto  children  had  been  the  result  of  the  mar- 
riage— one,  Alexis,  born  in  March,  1690,  was  destined  to  in- 
herit something  of  his  mother's  nature  and  to  be  a  difficulty 
and  a  grief  to  his  father,  and  to  cause  the  saddest  episode  of 
his  life  ;  the  second,  Alexander,  born  in  October,  1691,  lived 
but  seven  months.  Peter  had  already,  in  the  German  suburb, 
made  an  acquaintance  that  was  destined  to  influence  his  future 
life,  and  to  destroy  the  peace  of  his  family.  This  was  Anna 
Mons,  the  daughter  of  a  German  jeweller,  with  whom  Peter's 
relations  had  daily  grown  more  intimate,  and  in  whose  society 
he  passed  much  of  his  leisure  time. 

A  few  days  after  his  mother's  death,  Peter  began  again  to 
visit  the  house  of  Lefort,  but  though  he  conversed  freely  with 
his  friends  about  the  matters  which  interested  him  most,  and  an 


1694.]  his  mother's  death.  233 

extra  glass  was  drunk,  no  ladies  were  present,  and  there  was  no 
tiring  of  cannon,  no  music  nor  dancing.  The  next  day  he  wrote 
to  Apraxin,  at  Archangel : 

'  I  dumbly  tell  my  misfortune  and  my  last  sorrow,  about 
which  neither  my  hand  nor  my  heart  can  write  in  detail  without 
remembering  what  the  Apostle  Paul  says  about  not  grieving  for 
such  things,  and  the  voice  of  Esdras,  "  Call  me  again  the  day  that 
is  past."  I  forget  all  this  as  much  as  possible,  as  being  above 
my  reasoning  and  mind,  for  thus  it  has  pleased  the  Almighty 
God,  and  all  things  are  according  to  the  will  of  their  Creator. 
Amen !  Therefore,  like  Xoah,  resting  awhile  from  my  grief, 
and  leaving  aside  that  which  can  never  return,  I  write  about  the 
living.' 

The  rest  of  the  letter  was  taken  up  with  directions  about  the 
construction  of  the  small  ship  which  he  had  begun,  and  the 
preparation  of  clothing  for  the  sailors.  He  evidently  desired  to 
go  to  Archangel  that  winter,  but  he  felt  the  propriety  of  being 
present  at  the  requiem  on  the  fortieth  day  after  his  mother's 
death.  Little  by  little  other  things  interfered,  and  the  journey 
was  put  off. 

Another  letter  written  by  Peter  to  Apraxin  shows  him  in 
better  spirits,  Avilling  to  see  the  humorous  side  of  things,  and 
ready  to  make  little  jokes  about  Pamodanofsky  and  Buturlin, 
Who  were  old  Russians  and  opposed  to  all  Peter's  novelties, 
but  who  still  loved  him,  and  yielded  with  the  best  grace  they 
could  : — 

'  Thy  letter  was  handed  to  me  by  Michael  Kuroyedof,  and, 
after  reflecting,  I  reported  about  it  all  to  my  Lord  and  Admiral, 
who,  having  heard  my  report,  ordered  me  to  write  as  follows. 
First :  that  the  great  lord  is  a  man  mighty  bold  for  war,  as  well 
as  on  the  watery  way,  as  thou  thyself  knowest,  and  for  that  rea- 
son he  does  not  wish  to  delay  here  longer  than  the  last  days  of 
April.  Second :  that  his  Imperial  brother,  through  love  and 
even  desire  of  this  journey,  like  the  Athenians  seeking  new 
things,  has  bound  him  to  go,  and  does  not  wish  to  stay  behind 
himself.  Third :  The  rear-admiral  will  be  Peter  Ivanovitch 
Gordon.  I  think  there  will  be  nearly  three  hundred  people  of 
different  ranks;  and  who,  and  what  rank,  and  where,  that  I  will 


234  PETEB  THE  GREAT. 

write  to  thcc  presently.  Hasten  up  with  everything  as  quickly 
as  \"ii  can,  especially  with  the  ship.  Therefore  land  my  com- 
pauions,  who  are  working  on  the  masts,  send  many  respects. 
Keep  wvll.  Piter.' 

About  this  time,  a  large  amount  of  powder  and  a  thousand 
muskets  were  sent  to  Archangel,  while  twenty -four  cannon,  in- 
tended Eoroneof  the  new  ships,  were  ordered  to  wait  at  Vologda 
until  the  arrival  of  the  Tsar.  In  informing  Apraxin  of  this, 
Peter  sends  his  salutations  to  the  two  workmen  whom  he  had 
mi  it  <>n,  Xiklas  and  Jan,  and  begs  him  not  to  forget  the  beer. 
About  the  same  time,  or  even  earlier,  General  Gordon  wrote  to 
his  friend  and  business  agent  Meverell,  at  London,  to  send  to 
Archangel  a  good  ship  with  a  'jovial  captain,'  and  a  good  sup- 
ply of  powder ;  and  in  writing  to  his  son-in-law,  at  Archangel, 
recommends  him  also  to  brew  a  quantity  of  beer. 

All  preparations  being  made,  the  Tsar,  on  May  11,  set  out 
for  Archangel,  ' pov/r jpr&nd/re  ses  divertissements  et  meme  jpbus 
que  Vcmnee jpassee?  as  Lefort  wrote  to  his  brother  Ami ;  having 
with  him  many  more  of  his  'company'  than  he  had  taken  the 
yea i-  before.  It  required  twenty-two  barges  to  convey  them 
down  the  Dvma,  and  the  'caravan,'  with  Ramodanofsky  as  ad- 
miral, Buturlin  as  vice-admiral,  and  Gordon  as  rear-admiral,  ac- 
companied by  a  plentiful  display  of  signals  and  the  tiring  of 
cannon,  accomplished  its  journey  in  ten  days,  arriving  at  Arch- 
angel on  May  28.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  title  of 
admiral  was  purely  as  sportive  a  one  as  that  of  generalissimo,  or 
of  commodore  of  a  fleet  of  row-boats ;  it  implied  nothing  as  to 
the  present  or  future  existence  of  a  Russian  naval  force,  nor  did 
it  give  any  rank  in  the  state.  The  Tsar  himself  was  known  as 
the  'skipper.' 

Peter  established  himself  in  the  same  house  on  the  Moses 
Island  where  he  had  been  the  preceding  year.  His  first  care 
m  as  to  go  to  the  church  of  the  Prophet  Elijah,  and  to  thank 
God  for  his  safe  arrival ;  his  second  to  inspect  the  ship  building 
at  the  wharf  of  Solombala,  which  fortunately  was  completed. 
and  on  the  30th  was  triumphantly  launched,  the  Tsar  himself 
knocking  away  the  first  prop.  But,  as  the  frigate  ordered  in 
Holland  had  not  arrived,  it  was  impossible  as  yet  to  go  to  sea, 


1094.]  SOLOVETSK.  235 

and  the  Tsar  utilised  the  delay  by  making  the  trip  to  the  Solo- 
vetsky  monastery  which  he  had  postponed  the  year  before.  For 
this,  on  his  birthday,  he  embarked  on  his  small  yacht,  the  '  St. 
Peter,' taking  with  him  the  Archbishop  Athanasius,  some  of  the 
boyars  attached  to  his  person,  and  a  few  soldiers.  He  started 
out  on  the  night  of  June  10,  but  was  kept  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Dvina  by  a  calm.  The  wind  freshened  the  next  day,  and  soon 
turned  to  a  gale.  When  he  had  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the 
tJnskaya  Gulf,  about  eighty  miles  from  Archangel,  the  tempest 
was  so  great  that  the  little  ship  was  in  the  utmost  danger.  The 
sails  were  carried  away,  the  waves  dashed  over  the  deck,  and 
even  the  experienced  sailors  who  managed  the  yacht  gave  up  in 
despair,  and  believed  they  must  go  to  the  bottom.  All  fell  on 
their  knees  and  began  to  pray,  while  the  archbishop  adminis- 
tered the  last  sacrament.  Peter  alone  stood  firm  at  the  rudder, 
with  unmoved  countenance,  although,  like  the  rest,  he  received 
the  communion  from  the  hands  of  the  archbishop.  His  pres- 
ence of  mind  finally  had  its  effect  on  the  frightened  mariners, 
and  one  of  them,  Antip  Timofeief,  one  of  the  Streltsi  from  the 
Solovetsky  monastery  who  had  been  engaged  as  a  pilot,  went  to 
the  Tsar,  and  told  him  that  their  only  hope  of  safety  lay  in  run- 
ning into  the  Unskaya  Gulf,  as  otherwise  they  would  infallibly 
go  to  pieces  on  the  rocks.  With  his  assistance,  the  yacht  was 
steered  past  the  reefs  through  a  very  narrow  passage,  and  on 
June  12,  about  noon,  anchored  near  the  Pertominsky  monastery. 
The  whole  company  went  to  the  monastery  church  and  gave 
thanks  for  their  miraculous  preservation,  while  Peter  granted 
additional  revenues  and  privileges  to  the  brotherhood  of  monks, 
and  rewarded  the  pilot  Antip  with  a  large  sum  of  money.  In 
memory  of  his  preservation,  Peter  fashioned,  with  his  own 
hands,  a  wooden  cross  about  ten  feet  high,  with  an  inscription 
in  Dutch,  '  Dat  kruys  maken  ha/ptem  Piter  van  a.  cht.  1691,' 
carried  it  on  his  shoulders  and  erected  it  on  the  spot  where  he 
had  landed. 

The  storm  lasted  three  days  longer,  but  on  the  16th  Peter 
again  set  sail,  and  arrived  the  next  day  safely  at  the  monastery, 
where  he  remained  three  days  in  prayer  and  fasting,  and  in 
veneration  of  the  relics  of  its  founders,  St.  Sabatius  and  St.  Zo- 
simus.     The  monks  must  have  been  astonished  at  the  devotion 


236  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

shown  by  the  son  of  that  Tsar  who  had  besieged  them  for  nine 
long  jrears  because  they  had  refused  to  accept  the  'innovations' 
of  the  Patriarch  Nikon.  They  must  have  been  convinced  that, 
after  all,  they  were  right.  At  all  events,  they  were  pleased  with 
the  generosity  of  Peter,  who  gave  one  thousand  rubles  and  ad- 
ditional privileges  to  the  monastery,  besides  gifts  to  individual 
mi  mks.  The  sate  return  of  the  Tsar  was  feasted  at  Archangel, 
not  only  by  his  friends,  who  had  been  greatly  alarmed,  but  by 
the  captains  of  two  English  vessels  then  in  port,  and  he  himself 
wrote  brief  accounts  of  his  journey,  first  of  all  to  his  brother 
[van,  to  whom  he  said  that  he  had  at  last  fulfilled  his  vow  of 
adoring  the  relics  of  the  holy  hermits  Sabatius  and  Zosimus,  but 
mentioned  not  a  word  of  the  danger  he  had  run.  From  his 
wile.  t<>  whom  he  had  written  nothing,  Peter  received  two  let- 
ters, complaining  of  his  neglect.   Apparently  he  sent  no  answer. 

A  month  later,  the  new  vessel  which  he  had  launched  on  his 
arrival  was  ready  for  sea,  and  with  great  rejoicing  was  chris- 
tened the  '  St.  Paul.'  About  the  same  time,  Peter's  heart  was 
gladdened  by  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  his  friend  Vinius,  at 
Moscow,  saying  that  the  frigate  bought  by  Witsen  in  Amster- 
dam had  sailed  six  weeks  before,  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Flamm,  and  ought  by  that  time  to  be  due  in  Archangel.  Yinius 
spoke  also  of  many  fires  which  had  taken  place  at  Moscow.  (,ne 
of  which  had  burned  down  four  thousand  houses.  Previous  in- 
formation of  this  had  been  received  in  letters  from  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Ton  Mengden  and  Major  Adam  "Weyde : — 

'  In  Moscow  there  have  been  many  fires,  and  of  these  fires 
the  people  said  that,  if  you  had  been  here,  you  would  not  have 
allowed  them  to  be  so  great.' 

In  replying  to  Yinius,  Peter  expressed  his  joy  at  the  sailing 
of  the  vessel,  then  spoke  of  the  launching  of  the  one  built  at 
Archangel,  which,  he  said,  '  is  completely  finished,  and  has  been 
christened  the  "Apostle  Paul,''  and  sufficiently  fumigated  with 
the  incense  of  Mars.  At  this  fumigation,  Bacchus  was  also 
sufficiently  honoured.'  But  how  impudent  is  your  Yulcan  ;  he 
is  not  satisfied  with  vera  who  are  on  dry  land,  and  even  here,  in 


A  Swedish  galliot,  which  arrived  from  Bordeaux,  after  a  five  weeks' 
voyage,  on  July  7,  with  four  hundred  casks  of  wine,  probably  supplied  the 
libations  for  Bacchus. 


169-1.  J  ANOTHER  CRUISE.  237 

the  realm  of  Neptune,  lie  has  shown  his  effrontery  ;'  and  went 
on  to  tell  how  all  the  ships  at  Archangel  would  have  been  burnt, 
through  a  fire  catching  on  a  barge  laden  with  grain,  had  it  not 
been  for  the  great  exertion  of  himself  and  his  men.  Finally, 
on  July  21,  the  forty-four  gun  frigate,  '  Santa  Profeetie,'  so 
impatiently  expected  from  Holland,  arrived,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Captain  Jan  Flamm,  with  a  crew  of  forty  sailors.  She 
had  been  five  weeks  and  four  days  on  the  journey.  Peter  has- 
tened to  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  meet  her,  and  finally,  at  four 
o'clock,  she  cast  anchor  at  Solombala.  In  the  midst  of  the  feast, 
Peter  sat  down  and  wrote  to  Vinius  a  brief  letter : — 

'  Mix  Her  :  I  have  nothing  else  to  write  now,  except  that 
what  I  have  so  long  desired  has  to-day  come  about.  Jan 
Flamm  has  arrived  all  right,  with  forty-four  cannon  and  forty 
soldiers,  on  his  ship.  Congratulate  all  of  us.  I  shall  write  }rou 
more  fully  by  the  next  post,  but  now  I  am  beside  myself  with 
joy,  and  cannot  write  at  length.  Besides,  it  is  impossible,  for 
Bacchus  is  alway  honoured  in  such  cases,  and  with  his  leaves 
he  dulls  the  eyes  of  those  who  wish  to  write  at  length. 
'  The  City,  July  21. 

SchiPer  Fonshi 
Psantus  ProFet 
ities.' 

The  frigate  needed  a  few  repairs,  but  these  were  soon  made, 
and  in  a  week  Peter  was  ready  to  start  on  his  cruise.  The 
'Apostle  Paul,'  with  Vice-Admiral  Buturlin,  took  the  lead, 
followed  by  four  German  ships  returning  home  with  Russian 
cargoes.  Then  came  the  new  frigate,  the  '  Holy  Prophecy,' 
with  the  admiral  and  the  Tsar,  followed  by  four  English  ships 
returning  with,  their  cargoes.  The  yacht  '  St.  Peter,'  with  Gen- 
eral Gordon  as  rear-admiral,  followed.  The  movements  of  the 
fleet  were  to  be  directed  by  signals,  which  had  been  invented  for 
the  purpose  by  Peter,  and  had  been  translated  into  the  different 
languages.  He  himself  brought  Gordon  a  copy  for  translation 
into  English,  for  the  use  of  the  English  Captains.  The  wind 
was  for  a  long  time  unfavourable,  and,  even  after  getting  to  the 
mouths  of  'the  Dvina,  the  seafaring  company  could  do  nothing 
but  divert  itself  by  mutual  feasts  on  the  various  islands.  Peter, 
however,  who  must  always  have  something  on  hand,  discussed 


238  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

a  project  for  great  military  manoeuvres  in  the  autumn  on  his  re- 
turn to  Moscow,  and,  under  the  direction  of  General  Gordon, 
made  plans  of  bastion-  and  redoubts,  and  composed  lists  of  all 
the  necessary  tools  and  equipments.  Finally  the  fleet  set  out 
<>n  A.ugus1  21,  and  with  various  fortune — General  Gordon 
nearlv  going  to  pieces  on  a  small  island  to  which  his  pilot  had 
taken  him,  thinking  the  crosses  in  the  cemetery  on  the  shore  to 
be  the  masts  and  yards  of  the  other  vessels.  With  some  diffi- 
culty he  got  safely  off,  and  on  the  27th  the  whole  fleet  reached 
Sviatoi  Nbs,  the  most  extreme  point  which  separated  the  White 
Sea  from  the  Northern  Ocean.  It  had  been  Peter's  intention  t< » 
venture  upon  the  open  sea,  but  a  violent  wind  rendered  it  not 
only  difficult  but  dangerous.  The  signal  was  therefore  given, 
and,  taking  leave  of  the  merchant  vessels,  the  three  ships  of 
Peter's  navy  returned  to  Archangel,  arriving  there  on  the  31st. 
Three  days  longer  Mrere  all  that  Peter  could  stay.  On  the 
evening  of  September  2,  Gordon  says,  '  We  were  all  at  feast 
with  the  Governor,  and  were  jovial.'  The  next  morning  they 
set  out  for  Moscow. 

Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the  party  at  Moscow,  ar- 
rangements were  made  for  the  great  manoeuvres  which  Peter 
had  planned.  Two  armies  were  formed.  In  one  were  in- 
eluded  six  Streltsi  regiments  and  two  companies  of  cavalry,  in 
all  7,500  men,  under  Buturlin,  who  took  the  title  of  King 
of  Poland,  probably  on  account  of  the  increasing  difficulties 
with  that  country.  The  other,  the  Russian  force,  was  under 
the  command  of  Prince  Ramodanofsky,  and  included  the  Preo- 
brazhensky  and  the  Semenofsky  regiments,  the  two  select  regi- 
ments, and  a  collection  of  the  men  fit  for  military  service  sent  by 
the  nobility  of  twenty  towns  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Moscow, 
some  of  the  orders  being  despatched  as  far  as  Uglitch,  Suzdal, 
and  Vladimir.  The  strength  of  this  army  is  not  stated,  but  it 
was  probably  not  inferior  to  the  other,  and  it  required  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty  wagons  for  the  transport  of  its  ammunition  and 
equipments.  The  place  chosen  for  the  manoeuvres  was  a  wide 
valley  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river  Moskva,  back  of  the  village 
of  Kozhukhovo,  a  little  more  than  a  mile  from  the  Simonof 
monastery,  so  celebrated  now  for  its  lovely  view  of  Moscow. 
Here,  in  the  angle  formed  by  a  bend  of  the  river,  a  small  fort 


1694.]  MILITARY   MANOEUVRES.  239 

had  been  begun,  even  before  the  departure  of  Peter  for  Arch- 
angel. These  manoeuvres,  though  common  enough  nowadays 
in  all  military  countries,  must  have  been  a  great  surprise  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Moscow,  accustomed  to  their  quiet  and  almost 
pastoral  streets.  In  order  to  take  their  positions,  both  armies, 
in  full  parade,  passed  through  Moscow  by  different  routes.  In 
the  Russian  army  appeared  what  was  also  a  new  thing  to  the 
Muscovites — the  Tsar  as  Peter  Alexeief  marching  with  two  of 
his  comrades  as  bombardiers,  in  front  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regi- 
ment. What  would  now  seem  droll  is  that  both  armies  had — 
what  does  not  now  enter  into  military  staff — companies  of  scribes 
and  singers,  and,  in  one,  twenty- five  dwarfs,  of  course  unarmed. 

It  is  useless  to  recapitulate  the  story  of  the  manoeuvres, 
which  lasted  for  fully  three  weeks,  and  which  are  described 
with  great  humour  by  General  Gordon  in  his  diary,  and  by 
Zheliabuzhky  in  his  memoirs.  Sufficient  to  say  that  there  was 
fighting  which  sometimes  was  only  too  real,  for  the  bombs, 
though  without  powder,  did  hurt,  and  fire-pots  burst  and  burned 
faces  and  maimed  limbs.  A  bridge  had  to  be  thrown  across 
the  river  Moskva,  and  the  fort  was  to  be  mined  and  counter- 
mined, according  to  the  proper  rules  of  war.  Unfortunately 
banquets  and  suppers  had  too  great  a  predominance  in  this  cam- 
paign, and  after  a  very  good  dinner  given  by  General  Lefort  on 
his  name's  day,  it  was  decided  to  storm  the  enemy's  fort. 
Flushed  with  wine  as  they  were,  the  conquest  was  easy.  Every- 
one was  satisfied  except  Peter,  who  was  not  content  with  this 
summary  proceeding.  He  therefore  gave  up  all  the  prisoners, 
ordered  the  Polish  King  again  to  occupy  his  fort,  and  insisted 
that  mines  should  be  made  until  the  walls  should  be  blown  up, 
and  the  conquering  army  properly  walk  in.  This  was  done, 
and  the  place  was  finally  taken  in  the  most  approved  way  on 
October  27.  One  incident  of  the  campaign  seems  to  have  been 
a  fight  of  the  singers,  headed  by  Turgenief,  the  court  fool, 
against  the  scribes  of  the  Polish  camp. 

This  was  the  last  time  that  Peter  played  at  war.  Fate  ruled 
that  thenceforth  real  battles  were  to  take  the  place  of  mimic  ones.' 


1  Ustrialof,  II.  vi.  vii.  ;  Solovief,  xiv.  ;   Gordon's  Diary ;   Zheliabuzhky, 
memoirs,  Posselt,  Lefort;  Bruckner,  C ' ulturhintorische  Studien . 


XXV- 

THE   FIRST   CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   AZOF.— 1695. 

Peter  had  derived  so  much  satisfaction  from  his  visits  to 
Archangel  that  he  thought  favourably  of  various  projects  of 
travelling  throughout  his  country,  and  of  beginning  new  enter- 
prises. Even  while  at  Archangel  Lefort  wrote  to  his  family 
at  ( ireneva  that  there  was  talk  of  '  a  journey,  in  about  two  years' 
time,  to  Kazan  and  Astrakhan.  Still,  this  idea  may  pass  away 
before  two  years  are  over.  However,  I  shall  be  ready  to  obey 
all  orders.  There  is  also  an  idea  of  constructing  some  galliots 
and  going  to  the  Baltic  Sea.'  Later,  on  September  23,  Lefort 
wrote :  '  Xext  summer  we  are  going  to  construct  five  large  ships 
and  two  galleys,  which,  God  willing,  will  go  two  years  hence  to 
Astrakhan,  for  the  conclusion  of  important  treaties  with  Per- 
sia.1 The  ideas  of  Witsen  about  the  Persian  and  Asiatic  trade, 
and  the  many  conversations  on  that  subject  in  the  German  sub- 
urb about  the  advantages  connected  with  this  traffic,  which 
French,  Dutch,  and  English  all  desired  to  get  into  their  hands, 
had  evidently  stimulated  Peter's  mind. 

Suddenly,  however,  and  apparently  to  the  surprise  of  every- 
body, it  was  resolved  to  enter  upon  an  active  campaign  against 
the  Tartars,  in  the  spring  of  1G95 — nominally  for  the  purpose 
of  reducing  the  Crimea  ;  actually,  the  plan  of  the  campaign 
included  opening  the  Dnieper  and  the  Don,  two  .Russian  rivers 
which  were  useless  for  trade  so  long  as  their  mouths  were  in 
possession  of  the  Mussulmans.  The  only  mention  that  is  made 
of  this  plan  before  it  was  formally  announced,  is  a  passage  in  a 
letter  of  General  Gordon  to  his  friend  Kurz,  in  Vienna,  dated 
the  end  of  December,  1GU4,  in  which  he  says:  'I  believe  and 
hope  that  this  coming  summer  we  shall  undertake  something 
for  the  advantage  of  Christianity  and  our  allies.1     It  is  difficult 


1695.]  DISSATISFACTION   WITH   POLAND.  241 

to  tell  what  were  the  real  reasons  for  this  campaign.  Appar- 
ently it  was  not,  as  has  generally  been  thought,  on  the  initiative 
of  Peter  himself,  for  as  yet  he  had  not  meddled  in  the  concerns 
of  the  Government.  The  statements  that  the  expedition  against 
Azof  was  planned  for  the  purpose  of  getting  a  harbour  in  the 
Black  Sea,  in  which  to  create  a  navy,  or  because  the  success  of 
the  manoeuvres  near  Moscow  made  Peter  desirous  of  real  war, 
or  because  he  had  already  the  intention  of  going  to  Europe,  and 
wished  to  signalise  himself  by  great  exploits  before  he  appeared 
in  the  West,  rest  merely  on  surmise.  The  campaign  was  an 
incident  in  the  war  against  the  Tartars,  which  had  been  begun 
by  Sophia,  in  consequence  of  her  treaty  with  Poland,  and  which 
had  never  come  formally  to  a  conclusion.  Ko  peace  had  ever 
been  made.  Although,  after  the  unsuccessful  close  of  Golitsyn's 
second  expedition,  in  1689,  there  had  been  a  practical  armistice, 
yet  this  armistice  had  never  been  ratified  by  any  convention, 
and  was  frequently  broken  by  the  Tartars.  The  border  prov- 
inces were  constantly  exposed  to  their  predatory  incursions,  and 
in  1692  twelve  thousand  Tartars  appeared  before  the  Russian 
town  of  Nemirof ,  burnt  the  suburbs,  carried  away  many  pris- 
oners, and  made  booty  of  a  very  large  number  of  horses.  The 
Russians,  with  the  few  troops  of  Cossacks  and  the  local  levies 
that  remained  on  the  border,  had  confined  themselves  strictly 
to  the  defensive. 

Meanwhile,  there  had  been  a  growing  dissatisfaction  in 
Moscow  with  the  conduct  of  Poland.  The  Russian  Resident  at 
"Warsaw  constantly  wrote  that  no  dependence  whatever  could 
be  placed  on  the  King  of  Poland  or  on  the  Emperor.  He  re- 
ported them  as  desirous  of  making  a  separate  peace  with 
Turkey,  without  the  slightest  regard  for  the  interest  of  Russia. 
AVhen  application  was  made  to  Vienna,  the  Emperor  replied 
that  he  was  not  in  league  with  Moscow,  but  that,  without 
doubt,  the  Polish  King  kept  the  Tsars  informed  of  everything 
that  passed.  King  Jan  Sobieski  professed  the  utmost  friend- 
ship for  the  Tsars,  but  made  complaints  that  they  did  not  assist 
him  in  his  operations  against  the  Mussulmans ;  that,  under  the 
treaty,  they  had  no  right  to  confine  themselves  to  defensive 
warfare  alone  ;  and  that,  unless  they  sent  either  an  ambassador 
to  Vienna  with  full  powers,  or  sent  one  to  go  with  his  envoy  to 
Vol.  I. —16 


242 


PETEB   THE    GREAT. 


the  Crimean  Khan,  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  satisfy 
the  Muscovite  demands,  as  he  did  not  know  sufficiently  what 
the  «h'n lands  ol*  Muscovy  were.  Intrigues  had  been  going  on 
between  Mazeppa,  the  Hetman  of  Little  Russia,  and  various 
Polish  magnates,  and  it  was  believed  in  Moscow  that  these 
were  with  die  knowledge  and  contrivance  of  the  King.  Russia 
had  finally  become  so  bitter  on  this  point  that  Sobieski  has- 
tened to  declare  that  all  the  letters  intercepted  were  forgeries, 
and  a  monk,  on  whose  person,  it  is  said,  had  been  found  forged 

letters  and  forged  seals  of 
M azeppa,  was  surrendered  to 
the  Russians.  The  explana- 
tion was  accepted,  and  the 
monk  was  executed  by  Ma- 
zeppa's  orders. 

Fearing  to  be  left  en- 
tirely alone — for  it  had  been 
ascertained,  by  means  of 
Adam  Stille,  an  official  trans- 
lator at  the  foreign  office  in 
Vienna,  who  had  been  bought 
up  by  the  Russian  envoy, 
and  who  furnished  the  Gov- 
ernment at  Moscow  with  re- 
ports of  the  negotiations 
going  on  at  Vienna,  and 
sometimes  with  copies  of  pa- 
pers, that  no  mention,  of  any 
kind  whatever,  of  the  in- 
terest of  Russia  had  been  made  in  the  whole  of  the  negotia- 
tions at  Vienna  between  Poland,  Austria,  and  Turkey — and 
fearing  lest  a  separate  peace  might  be  made  without  them, 
which  would  enable  the  Sultan  to  turn  all  his  forces  against 
them,  the  Russians  resolved  to  see  what  they  could  effect  them- 
selves. For  this  purpose,  agents  had  been  sent  to  the  Crimea 
to  ascertain  upon  what  basis  the  Khan  would  make  a  per- 
manent peace.  The  Russians  were  unwilling  to  agree  to  the 
same  state  of  things  that  had  existed  before  the  campaigns  of 
( rolitsyn.    They  insisted  that  the  prisoners  on  both  sides  should 


Mazeppa. 


1095.]  CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   AZOF.  243 

be  delivered  up  without  a  ransom,  and  upon  the  suppression  of 
the  money  tribute  which  had  previously  been  annually  sent  to 
the  Crimea.  On  the  suggestion  of  Dositheus,  the  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  who  had  written  several  letters  to  the  Tsars 
urging  the  renewal  of  hostilities,  they  made  also  a  request  that. 
the  Holy  Places  in  Jerusalem  should  betaken  away  from  the 
Franks  and  restored  to  the  Greek  clergy.'  As  to  the  Holy 
Places,  the  Khan  replied  that  the  solution  of  that  question 
depended  on  the  Sultan  alone ;  but,  for  the  other  matters,  he 
declined  to  accept  anything  but  a  renewal  of  the  old  treaty  of 
Baktchiserai,  insisted  on  the  tribute  due  to  him,  and  refused  to 
give  up  the  captives  without  a  ransom.  Xot  only  were  these 
overtures  ineffectual,  but  alarm  was  caused  by  the  appearance 
of  the  Polish  magnate,  IJzewuski,  at  the  court  of  the  Khan, 
with  propositions  from  the  King.  Rzewuski  went  subse- 
quently to  Adrianople,  in  the  hope  of  making  peace  with  the 
Sultan  on  conditions  favourable  to  Poland.  This  plan  fell 
through  ;  but  the  Turks  finally  consented  to  open  negotiations 
for  a  general  peace.  Information  about  this  reached  Moscow 
in  a  letter  from  King  Jan  Sobieski,  in  the  latter  part  of  July, 
1694,  and  the  Tsars  were  requested  to  send  a  proper  and  tit  man 
to  meet  the  Turkish  and  Tartar  plenipotentiaries.  It  was,  in 
all  probability,  the  despair  of  obtaining  any  favourable  condi- 
tions for  Iiussia,  and  the  fear  that  their  plenipotentiaries  would 
not  be  admitted  to  the  congress,  that  induced  the  Government 
at  Moscow  to  resolve  on  active  operations. 

The  campaign  once  resolved  upon,  Peter  threw  himself  into 
it  with  all  his  heart  and  soul.  He  looked  personally  after  the 
artillery,  as  he  had  the  intention  of  accompanying  one  of  the 
armies,  in  the  capacity  of  bombardier.  lie  even  went  to  Pere- 
yaslavl,  to  look  over  the  artillery  stores  which  he  had  left  there, 
in  order  to  see  what  would  be  available  for  the  purposes  of  the 
expedition.  Full  of  ardour  at  the  thought  of  active  war,  he 
wrote  to  Apraxin :  '  Although  for  five  weeks  last  autumn  we 
practised  in  the  game  of  Mars  at  Kozhukhovo,  with  no  idea 
except  that  of  amusement,  yet  this  amusement  of  ours  has  be- 

1  It  is  interesting  to  see  how  early  the  question  of  the  Holy  Places  became 
a  subject  of  dispute  between  Iiussia  and  Turkey. 


'244  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

cornea  Forerunner  of  the  present  war.'  And  again  he  wrote: 
'At  KozhiikhOvo  we  jested.  We  are  now  going  to  play  the 
real  game  before  Azof.' 

The  plan  of  operations  was  that  the  boyar  Boris  Shereme- 
tief,  with  L20,000  men,  assisted  by  the  Cossacks  of  the  Ukraine 
under  Mazeppa,  should  go  down  the  Dnieper  and  attempt  to 
take  possession  of  the  fortresses  of  Otchakof  and  Kazikerman, 
which,  with  three  similar  forts,  guarded  the  mouth  of  that 
river.  The  army  of  Sheremetief  was  composed  entirely  of 
troops  drilled  in  the  old  Russian  style.  The  two  regiments 
made  up  of  the  play-troops  of  Peter,  together  with  the  regi- 
ments of  soldiers  drilled  according  to  foreign  tactics  and  the 
best  of  the  Streltsi  regiments,  were  to  compose  an  army 
of  about  31,000  men,  the  aim  of  which  was  the  capture  of 
Azof. 

This  fortress  town,  situated  on  one  of  the  arms  of  the  Don, 
about  ten  miles  from  the  Sea  of  Azof,  was  the  chief  hinderance 
to  the  Russian  access  to  the  Black  Sea.  In  the  early  times,  as 
the  half -Greek  city  of  Tanais,  and  in  the  Middle  Ages,  as  the 
Genoese  colony  of  Tana,  it  had  been  a  great  commercial  em- 
porium for  the  Asiatic  trade.  Destroyed  by  Tamerlane,  and 
afterward  fortified  by  the  Turks,  it  had  been  captured  by  the 
Don  Cossacks  in  1637,  and  held  by  them  for  six  years  against 
tremendous  odds,  until  they  were  ordered  to  abandon  it  by 
the  Tsar  Michael,  Russia  being;  unwilling  to  engage  in  a  war 
with  Turkey  for  its  retention.  It  was  then  rebuilt  by  the 
Turks,  who  kept  26,000  men  at  work  for  several  years  in 
strengthening  its  fortifications.  What  is  particularly  to  be 
noticed  is  that,  in  sending  an  expedition  to  Azof,  the  Russians 
were  attacking  the  Turks,  and  not  the  Tartars. 

The  plan  of  this  campaign  was  decided  upon  about  the 
middle  of  February,  in  a  council  of  war  held  at  the  artillery 
head-quarters.  The  army  was  to  be  divided  into  three  corps, 
respectively  under  the  command  of  Avtemon  Golovin,  Lefort, 
and  Gordon ;  but,  strangely  enough,  there  was  to  be  no  su- 
preme commander.  The  command  of  the  army  was  to  be 
entrusted  to  a  council  composed  of  these  three  generals,  and 
in  me  of  their  decisions  could  be  carried  into  effect  without  the 
approbation  of  the  bombardier  sergeant  of  the  Preobrazhensky 


1695.]  CAMPAIGN   AGAINST   AZOF.  245 

regiment,  Peter  Alexeief,  as  the  Tsar  chose  to  be  styled.  This 
arrangement,  as  might  easily  have  been  foreseen,  proved  pro- 
ductive of  great  calamities. 

The  division  of  General  Gordon  marched  the  whole  distance, 
and  starting  from  Moscow  in  March,  arrived  at  the  rendezvous 
before  Azof  in  the  middle  of  June.  The  'great  caravan,'  as  it 
was  called,  consisting  of  the  other  troops,  left  Moscow  in  May, 
by  water,  but  owing  to  the  constant  bad  weather  (there  was 
snow  in  Moscow  even  on  June  T),  the  careless  way  in  which  the 
barges  were  constructed,  and  the  stupidity  and  inexperience  of 
the  boatmen,  had  great  difficulty  in  reaching  Xizhni-Xovgorod, 
on  the  Yolga,  where  it  was  found  necessary  to  transship  all  the 
troops,  equipments,  and  artillery.  As  Peter  wrote  to  Yinius, 
from  Xizhni-Xovgorod : 

'  Strong  winds  kept  us  back  for  two  days  at  Dedinovo,  and 
three  days  at  Murom,  and  most  of  all  the  delay  was  caused  by 
stupid  pilots  and  workmen,  who  call  themselves  masters,  but  in 
reality,  are  as  far  from  being  so,  as  the  earth  is  from  heaven.' 

Fortunately,  the  barges  from  Voronezh  were  in  waiting  at 
Panshin,  on  the  Don,  to  reach  which  a  short  land  march  was 
made,  and  the  caravan  reached  the  rendezvous  without  much 
trouble  on  the  festival  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  the  name's- 
day  of  the  Tsar  (^y).  Gordon  at  once  sent  to  the  Tsar  to  con- 
gratulate him,  and  asked  him  to  dinner.  But  Peter  busied 
himself  the  whole  day  with  disembarking  his  troops,  and  came 
only  to  supper.  Gordon  had  taken  up  a  position  on  some  low 
hills  within  sight  of  Azof,  and  had  entrenched  himself.  The 
other  troops  did  the  same,  and  at  the  council  of  war  it  was  re- 
solved to  begin  siege  works  at  once. 

This  siege  continued  for  fourteen  weeks,  with  varying  suc- 
cess. There  was  a  want  of  discipline  among  the  Streltsi,  there 
was  a  want  of  harmony  in  the  councils  of  the  generals,  there 
was  a  want  of  knowledge  and  experience  in  the  engineers ;  and, 
more  than  that,  there  was  a  breakdown  of  the  commissariat. 
For  a  long  time,  the  troops  were  entirely  without  salt.  Every- 
thing went  on  slowly,  and  it  sometimes  seemed,  as  Gordon  said, 
'  that  we  acted  as  if  we  were  not  in  earnest.' 

One  advantage  obtained  by  the  Don  Cossacks  cheered  up 
the  army.     They  succeeded  in  storming  one  of  the  two  small 


246  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

Eorts  called  Ivalantchi,  which  guarded  the  junction  of  the  Ka- 
lantcha  one  of  the  larger  arms  of  the  Don,  which  branches  off 
above  Azof — and  which  prevented  the  passage  of  the  Russian 
barges  with  provisions  for  the  army,  and  compelled  everything 
to  be  taken  sonic  distance  around,  exposed  to  the  attack  of  the 
Tartar  cavalry.  After  one  fort  had  been  taken  by  assault,  such 
a  fire  was  kept  up  against  the  other  that  the  Turkish  troops 
abandoned  it  in  the  night.  It  was,  therefore,  possible  for  the 
Russians  to  construct  a  floating  bridge  over  the  Don,  and 
greatly  to  facilitate  their  communications  and  all  their  opera- 
tion.-. As  a  set-off  to  this  success,  that  very  afternoon  a  man 
named  Jacob  Janson  went  over  to  the  enemy,  lie  was  origi- 
nally a  Dutch  sailor,  who  had  entered  the  Russian  service  at 
Archangel,  and  had  adopted  the  Russian  religion;  he  had  been 
lately  serving  as  a  bombardier,  and  from  some  fancy  Peter  had 
become  extremely  intimate  with  him  and  had  communicated  to 
him  all  his  plans  and  ideas  with  regard  to  the  siege.  This  rene- 
gade and  deserter  exposed  to  the  Turkish  Pasha  all  the  Russian 
plans,  and  especially  the  disposition  of  the  troops.  One  of  the 
many  Russian  dissenters  who  had  found  a  refuge  at  Azof  from 
the  persecution  of  the  Church  and  Government  was  imme- 
diately sent  by  the  Pasha  to  verify  this,  and,  by  calling  himself 
a  Cossack,  easily  succeeded  in  passing  the  Russian  sentinels  and 
penetrating  into  their  camp.  The  Russians,  even  in  the  field. 
had  kept  up  their  old  habit  of  taking  a  long  nap  immediately 
after  their  midday  meal.  Informed  of  this  practice,  the  Pasha 
made  a  sortie,  surprised  the  Russians  in  then-  trenches,  and  was 
only  beaten  back  after  a  three  hours'  fight,  in  which  the  Rus- 
sians experienced  very  severe  losses,  and  General  Gordon,  who 
did  his  best  to  rally  the  troops,  came  very  near  being  taken  pris- 
oner. After  this,  frequent  sorties  and  attacks  greatly  annoyed 
the  Russians  and  hindered  the  siege  works.  General  Gordon, 
who  was  really  the  only  officer  of  great  experience,  wished  to 
complete  the  trenches  on  the  left  side  as  far  as  the  river,  for 
there  was  still  a  vacant  space  along  the  river  through  which  the 
Tartar  cavalry  kept  up  communications  with  the  town.  He  also 
wished  to  continue  the  trenches  until  they  were  close  to  the 
walls.  All  his  suggestions,  however,  were  overruled  by  the  im- 
pulsiveness of  Peter  and  the  inexperience  of  Lefort  and  Golo- 


1695.]  SIEGE   OF   AZOF.  247 

vin,  who  voted  to  please  the  Tsar.  There  was  great  desire  for 
an  immediate  assault,  which  was  opposed  by  Gordon,  who  rep- 
resented how  dangerous  it  would  be  to  carry  the  town  by  storm 
when  there  were  no  trenches  close  to  the  fortifications  in  which 
the  troops  could  take  refuge  in  case  of  repulse.  His  remon- 
strances were  of  no  avail,  and  an  assault  was  finally  attempted 
on  August  15.  It  failed  completely.  The  Russians  were  driven 
back  with  a  loss  of  1,500  men — a  very  heavy  one,  considering 
their  numbers.  Later  on,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  Gordon, 
two  mines  were  exploded  long  before  they  had  reached  the  part 
of  the  walls  intended  to  be  blown  up.  No  damage  was  done  to 
the  town,  but  the  explosion  threw  the  debris  back  into  the  Rus- 
sian trenches  with  considerable  loss  of  life.  The  troops  began 
to  despair,  but  Peter  resolved  to  attempt  one  more  assault  be- 
fore giving  up  the  siege,  for  the  weather  was  now  so  cold  that 
it  was  difficult  for  the  men  to  remain  in  the  trenches.  This  as- 
sault was  no  more  successful  than  the  first,  although  some  of 
the  Cossacks  penetrated  into  the  town  on  the  river  side.  Finally 
it  was  determined  to  raise  the  siege,  and  on  October  12  the 
Russians  began  to  withdraw,  hotly  pursued  by  the  enemy,  who 
made  constant  attacks  on  the  rear-guard.  The  severe  weather 
and  high  water  prevented  the  Russians  from  crossing  the  river 
to  the  safer  side,  and  many  were  the  privations  and  great  was 
the  distress  endured  on  the  homeward  march. 

The  Tartars  attacked  the  rear-guard,  and  on  one  occasion, 
after  killing  about  thirty  men  in  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Swart, 
took  prisoner  the  colonel  and  the  greater  part  of  the  regiment, 
with  several  standards.  This  caused  great  panic  at  the  time, 
and  produced  an  impression  at  home  which  lasted  for  many 
years,  as  is  evident  from  the  way  in  which  Pososhkof  brings  it 
forward  as  an  instance  of  the  bad  discipline  of  the  army.  The 
troops  suffered  much  from  the  rains  and  floods,  and  afterward 
from  the  extreme  cold.  The  steppe,  which  Gordon,  in  the 
spring,  had  found  '  full  of  manifold  flowers  and  herbs,  asparagus, 
wild  thyme,  marjoram,  tulips,  pinks,  melilot  and  maiden  gilly 
flowers,'  was  now  bare  and  naked.  All  the  vegetation  had 
been  burnt  off,  and  frequently  the  soldiers  could  not  even  find 
a  piece  of  dry  wood  with  which  to  kindle  a  fire.  The  Austrian 
agent,  Pleyer,  who  had  been  with  the  army  through  the  siege, 


2-] 8  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

but  who  was  obliged  by  a  fever  to  remain  a  month  at  Tchcr- 
kaskj  wrote  in  his  report  to  the  Emperor  Leopold: 

*  I  saw  great  quantities  of  the  best  provisions,  which  could 
have  kept  a  large  army  for  a  year,  either  ruined  by  the  bad 
weather,  or  lost  by  the  barges  going  to  the  bottom.  What  was 
left  was  divided  among  the  Cossacks.  On  the  way  I  then  saw 
what  great  loss  the  army  suffered  in  the  march,  although  no 
enemy  pursued  it,  fur  it  was  impossible  not  to  see  without  tears 
how  through  the  whole  steppe  for  eight  hundred  versts  men 
and  horses  lay  half  eaten  by  the  wolves,  and  many  villages  were 
full  of  sick,  half  of  whom  died,  as  well  as  many  others  infected 
by  them,  all  of  which  was  very  painful  to  see  and  to  hear.' 

The  only  success  of  the  campaign  was  the  capture  of  the  two 
forts,  in  which  a  garrison  of  3,000  men  was  left,  so  as  to  be 
ready  for  subsequent  operations  the  next  spring.  Lefort,  in  a 
letter  to  his  brother,  says  that  had  they  had  10,000  more  troops, 
the  town  would  certainly  have  been  taken.  This  additional 
number  would  have  enabled  the  trenches  to  have  been  drawn 
entirely  around  the  town,  and  its  communications  would  have 
been  entirely  cut  off.  But  the  failure  is  rather  to  be  ascribed 
to  the  want  of  knowledge  and  experience  on  the  part  of  the 
officers,  and  to  the  impulsiveness  of  the  Tsar,  than  to  the  small- 
ness  of  the  army. 

Peter  himself  was  indefatigable.  As  a  bombardier,  he  filled 
bombs  and  grenades  with  his  own  hands,  and  worked  at  the 
mortars  like  any  common  soldier.  With  all  this,  he  took  part 
in  the  councils  of  war,  supervised  all  the  plans  of  action,  and, 
in  addition,  kept  up  a  constant  correspondence  with  friends. 
These  letters  are  all  brief.  Some  of  them  refer  simply  to  mat- 
ters of  business,  such  as  the  forwarding  of  material  and  provi- 
sions. In  them  he  endeavoured  to  keep  up  his  own  spirits  as 
well  as  those  of  his  friends,  still  maintaining  the  jesting  tone 
which  he  had  long  ago  adopted,  always  addressing  them  by 
their  nicknames,  and  carrying  out  the  fiction  of  making  regular 
reports  to  Hamodanofsky  as  the  generalissimo  of  the  army,  and 
signing  himself,  with  expressions  of  great  respect,  the  '  Bom- 
bardier Peter.'  There  is  much  talk  about  '  plowing  the  field  of 
Mars,'  and  there  are  other  classical  allusions.  But  twice  he 
shows  real  feeling — with  reference  to  the  death  of  his  friend 


1695.]  END    OF   THE   CAMPAIGN.  249 

Prince  Theodore  Troekurof,  who  was  killed  on  September  17, 
and  to  the  deaths  of  his  comrades  and  orderlies  Yekim  Voronin 
and  Gregory  Liikin — who  had  been  two  of  the  most  intelligent 
men  in  his  guard,  and  had  been  also  of  great  assistance  to  him 
in  his  boat-building  at  Pereyaslavl — killed  at  the  final  assault. 
He  writes  to  Eamodanofsky  on  separate  scraps  of  paper,  en- 
closed with  the  formal  letters  to  him  as  generalissimo : 

'  For  God's  sake,  do  not  trouble  yourself  because  the  posts 
are  late.  It  is  certainly  from  the  bad  weather,  and  not,  God 
forbid !  because  of  any  accident.  Thou  canst  judge  thyself  that, 
if  anything  had  happened,  how  would  it  be  possible  to  keep  it 
quiet?  Think  over  this,  and  tell  those  that  need  it.  Prince 
Theodore  Ivanovitch,  my  friend,  is  no  more.  For  God's  sake, 
do  not  abandon  his  father.  Yekim  Voronin  and  Gregory 
Liikin  by  God's  will  have  died.  Please  don't  forget  Gregory's 
father.' 

The  Tsar  accompanied  the  troops  until  they  had  reached 
Valiiiek,  the  first  liussian  town.  He  then  went  on  in  advance, 
but  stopped  for  several  days  near  Tula,  at  the  ironworks  built 
by  the  Dane  Marselis,  which  were  now  owned  by  his  uncle,  Leo 
Naryshkin.  Here  he  amused  himself  by  hammering  three 
large  iron  sheets  with  his  own  hands. 

The  army  reached  Moscow  on  December  2,  and,  in  spite 
of  the  failure  of  the  campaign,  Peter  made  a  triumphal  entry 
into  the  city,  with  a  captive  Turk  led  before  him.  The  only 
excuse  for  this  was  the  partial  success  of  Sheremetief  and 
Mazeppa,  who  had  taken  by  storm  two  of  the  Turkish  forts  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Dnieper — Kazikerman  and  Tagan — and  had 
forced  the  abandonment  of  two  others.1 

1  Solovief,  xiv.;  Ustridlof,  II.,  viii.,  ix.;  Gordon's  Diary;  Posselt,  Lefort. 


XXVI. 

THE  CAPTURE  OF   AZOF.— 169G. 

Pbtek  undoubtedly  felt  disappointed,  humiliated,  and  angry 
at  the  result  of  the  campaign.  Despite  the  dangers  and  diffi- 
culties which  beset  his  childhood,  he  had  nearly  always  suc- 
ceeded  in  having  his  own  way.  He  was  Tsar,  he  was  self- 
willed,  and  he  was  obstinate.  He  had  undertaken  the  siege 
with  such  confidence  of  success  that  he  had  caused  Lefort  to 
write  letters  to  be  communicated  to  the  different  courts  of 
Europe,  informing  the  world  of  his  designs,  and  he  had  re- 
turned almost  empty-handed. 

The  difficulties  of  the  homeward  march  must  only  have 
served  to  increase  his  obstinate  adherence  to  his  purpose,  and 
every  hammer-blow  which  he  gave  to  those  iron  plates  in  the 
forge  at  Tula  drove  away  a  regret  and  fixed  a  resolution.  He 
no  sooner  returned  to  Moscow  than  every  preparation  was 
made  for  another  campaign.  Indeed,  he  had  formed  some 
plans  even  before  this,  for,  on  the  march,  just  after  he  had  es- 
caped from  the  burning  steppe,  he  wrote  to  the  Emperor,  to 
the  King  of  Poland,  and  to  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  in- 
forming them  of  the  efforts  which  he  had  made  against  the 
Turks,  and  of  his  failure,  owing  partly  to  the  lack  of  cannon 
and  ammunition,  but  especially  to  the  want  of  skilful  engineers 
and  miners,  and,  in  the  name  of  friendship  and  for  the  success 
of  their  common  cause  against  the  Turk,  he  begged  that  skil- 
ful men  be  sent  to  him. 

This  time,  the  number  of  troops  designed  for  the  expedition 
was  much  greater,  amounting  in  all,  with  the  help  of  the  Cos- 
sacks and  the  regiments  from  Little  Russia,  to  75,000  men. 
Having  seen  that  the  failure  of  the  last  campaign  was  owing, 
in  great  part,  to  the  divisions  in  command,  Peter  appointed  a 


1696.] 


A   .NEW    CAMPAIGN. 


251 


single  commander-in-chief  for  the  whole  of  the  forces  before 
Azof,  with  the  title  of  generalissimo,  lie  at  first  chose  Prince 
Michael  Tcherkasky,  a  grandee,  who  was  much  respected  for 
his  character  and  his  great  services,  but  who  was  then  very 
old  ;  and  when  Tcherkasky  refused  this  appointment  on  account 
of  his  extreme  age  and  infirmity,  his  choice  fell  upon  the 
boyar  Alexis  Shein, more  noted  for  distinguished  family — he 
was  the  great-grandson  of  the  celebrated  defender  of  Smolensk 
in  the  Troublous  Times — than  for  actual  service  and  experience, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  in  the  opinion  of  his  contemporaries,  a 
man  of  ability  and  sound  judgment.  The  appointment  of  a 
native  Russian  to  such  high  rank 
was  doubtless  intended  to  silence 
the  complaints  of  the  ultra-na- 
tional party,  who  had  again  talked 
of  this  last  defeat  beiuir;  owino; 
to  the  employment  of  so  many 
foreigners.      The    boyar    Boris 


Alexis  Shein. 


Sheremetief  and  the  hetman  Ma-_ 
zeppawere  ordered  to  remain  on 
the  defensive  and  protect  the 
frontier  from  Tartar  incursions. 
In  his  first  campaign,  Peter 
had  seen  the  absolute  necessity 
of  a  flotilla  in  order  to  prevent 
the  Turks  from  communicating 
with  Azof,  and  to  keep  the  com- 
mand of  the  river.  It  is  need- 
less to  say  that  his  love  for  the  sea  strengthened  his  opinion. 
He  therefore  resolved  to  build  a  fleet  of  transport  barges,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  galleys  and  galliots  that  could  be  armed  and 
used  for  the  defensive  if  not  for  the  offensive.  For  the  con- 
struction of  this  fleet  he  chose  the  town  of  Voronezh,  on  the 
river  Voronezh,  about  three  hundred  miles  south  of  Moscow. 
All  this  region  had  once  been  covered  with  a  thick  virgin  forest, 
and  here,  from  the  early  years  of  the  reign  of  Alexis,  numer- 
ous barges  had  been  constructed  every  winter  for  the  transport 
of  the  grain  and  wine  sent  as  salary  to  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don. 
These  barges  were  like  those  now  built  on  the  rivers  in  the 


262  PETEE  THE  GREAT. 

north  of  Russia  for  the  transport  of  timber,  hides,  and  grain — 
rude  vessels  made  entirely  of  wood,  without  the  use  of  even  an 
iron  nail.  They  were  good  simply  for  the  voyage  down  the 
river,  and  never  returned.  On  their  arrival  they  were  broken 
up.  and  used  either  as  timber  or  as  tire- wood.  They  were  usu- 
ally about  a  hundred  feet  long  and  twenty  feet  wide,  and  held 
about  two  hundred  quarters  of  grain.  To  such  an  extent  had 
barges  been  built  in  this  locality — at  the  rate  of  five  hundred 
to  a  thousand  a  year — that  in  many  places  the  forests  were  en- 
tirely cut  down.  Voronezh  is  now  a  thriving  town,  the  capital 
of  a  province  or  guhernia,  with  a  population  of  45,000,  and  a  con- 
siderable trade.  Its  greatest  reminiscences  are  those  connected 
with  Peter,  and  the  construction  of  this  flotilla — some  of  the 
boat-houses  being  still  standing ;  but  it  also  prides  itself  on  the 
peasant-poet  Xikitin,  and  possesses  an  agreeable  and  cultivated 
society.  Here  Peter  ordered  the  construction  of  a  wharf  on 
the  low  left  bank,  the  side  of  the  river  opposite  to  the  town, 
for  it  is  a  peculiarity  of  most  Russian  rivers  that  the  right  bank 
is  high,  of  bluffs  or  low  hills,  and  the  left  flat.  During  the 
winter  of  1696,  upwards  of  30,000  men,  under  the  command  of 
officials  sent  from  Moscow,  laboured  at  the  construction  of  more 
than  thirteen  hundred  barges  for  conveying  troops,  ammunition, 
and  provisions  to  the  mouths  of  the  Don.  In  addition  to  this, 
Peter  sent  to  Archangel  for  all  the  ship-carpenters  who  were 
wintering  there,  promising  that  they  should  return  for  the  open- 
ing of  navigation.  It  was  his  intention  to  build  thirty  galleys  of 
various  sizes,  some  of  two  and  some  of  three  masts,  although 
they  would  depend  chiefly  on  oars  for  their  swiftness.  A  model 
galley,  constructed  in  Holland,  which  had  arrived  at  Archangel, 
was  brought  by  the  Dvina  to  Vologda,  and  then  overland  to 
Moscow.  Several  of  those  which.  Peter  had  himself  built  at 
Pereyaslavl  were,  according  to  Lefort,  transported  on  sledges  over 
the  easy  snow  roads  to  Voronezh.  Pour  thousand  men,  selected 
from  various  regiments,  were  told  off  into  a  naval  battalion  or 
marine  regiment,  for  service  both  by  sea  and  land.  Lefort  was 
made  admiral,  Colonel  Lima,  a  Venetian  who  had  been  for 
eight  years  in  the  Russian  service,  vice-admiral,  and  a  French- 
man. Colonel  Balthazar  de  Losier,  rear-admiral.  Peter  himself 
took  the  rank  of  captain,  and  commanded  the  van-guard. 


1696.]  DEATH   OF  THE  TSAR  IVAN.  293 

It  is  from  Peter's  return  from  his  first  campaign  against 
Azof  that  the  real  beginning  of  his  reign  should  be  dated.  It 
was  then,  for  the  first  time,  that  he  took  an  active  concern  and 
participation  in  all  affairs  of  government.  By  a  singular  coin- 
cidence, it  was  about  this  time  also  that  he  became  the  sole 
ruler  of  the  Russian  state  ;  for,  on  February  S,  1696,  his  brother 
Ivan,  who  had  greatly  improved  in  health  since  his  marriage, 
suddenly  died.  Peter  had  been  much  attached  to  Ivan,  and 
the  care  which  he  afterwards  manifested  for  his  wife  and 
family1  showed  that  he  kept  the  tenderest  recollections  of  him. 
He  had,  however,  now  but  little  time  to  grieve,  for  the  pre- 
parations for  the  campaign  entirely  absorbed  him,  though  a 
bodily  ailment  rendered  him  for  the  moment  powerless.  An 
injury  to  his  foot  had  produced  a  malady  which  kept  him  long- 
in  bed,  and  which,  for  a  time,  excited  the  fears  of  his  family 
and  his  friends.  As  soon  as  he  got  better,  he  started  south- 
ward with  a  small  suite,  and,  contrary  to  habit,  took  a  week 
for  the  journey  to  Voronezh.  His  illness  and  the  bad  state  of 
the  roads  were  sufficient  reasons  for  this.  Once  there,  he  for- 
got his  troubles  and  immediately  set  to  work,  and  five  days 
later,  in  writing  to  the  boyar  Streslmef  to  send  immediately 
some  ash  timber  from  the  woods  of  Tula  for  oars,  as  such  could 
not  be  found  near  Voronezh,  adds :  '  According  to  the  divine 
decree  to  our  grandfather  Adam,  we  are  eating  our  bread  in 
the  sweat  of  our  face.'  The  ship-carpenters  were  slow  in  ar- 
riving, and  many  of  the  workmen  deserted,  the  weather  was  most 
unfavourable,  for  the  thaw  was  succeeded  by  so  violent  a  cold 
that  the  river  froze  again,  and  storms  of  hail  and  sleet  were  so 
severe  that  on  two  occasions  the  men  were  prevented  from  work- 
ing for  three  or  four  days.  Peter  was  obliged  not  only  to  set  an 
example,  but  to  act  at  once  as  overseer  and  master-shipwright. 

All  this  time  Lefort  was  ill  in  Moscow  with  an  abscess  in 
his  side,  occasioned  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  on  the  march  from 
Azof.  He  did  what  he  could,  and  at  all  events  cheered  the 
Tsar  somewhat  with  his  constant  friendly  letters. 

1  Three  of  the  five  daughters  of  the  Tsar  Ivan  survived  their  father — 
Catherine,  Anna,  and  Prascovia.  Anna  became  Empress  of  Russia,  Catherine 
married  the  Duke  of  Mecklenburg,  and  her  infant  grandson  occupied  the 
Russian  throne  for  a  short  time  as  Ivan  VI. 


254 


PETER   THE    GREAT. 


Finally,  on  April  L2,  three  galleys,  the  '  Principium,'  chiefly 
the  work  of  Peter  himself ,  the  "St.  Mark,'  and  the 'St.  Mat- 
thew,' were  Launched  with  due  ceremony,  and  two  others  fol- 
lowed shortly  alter.  Almost  the  same  day,  the  troops  col- 
lected at  Voronezh  began  to  load  the  barges,  and  on  May  1  the 
generalissimo  Shein  raised  on  his  galley  the  great  flag  bearing 
the  arms  of  the  Tsar — a  representation  of  the  sea  with  ships, 
and  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  in  the  corners — which  had  been  em- 
broidered at  a  convent  in  Moscow,  and  brought  to  Voronezh  by 

Franz  Timmermann.  This 
flag  is  still  preserved  at  Mos- 
cow. Two  days  later,  the  first 
division  of  the  great  caravan 
of  galleys  and  barges  set  out. 
The  voyage  down  the  rivers 
Voronezh  and  Don  took  three 
weeks,  but  Peter,  with  his 
lighter  and  swifter  galleys, 
overtook  the  advance,  and, 
on  May  26,  reached  the  town 
of  Teherkask,  the  capital  of 
the  Don  Cossacks,  where  he 
came  up  with  the  division  of 
General  Gordon,  which  had 
preceded  him  by  ten  days, 
and  that  under  General  Iiige- 
man,  which  had  marched 
from  Tambof.  While  wait- 
ing for  his  main  forces,  he 
busied  himself  with  drawing  up  regulations  for  the  new  fleet 
while  in"action,  and  with  loading  on  barges  the  artillery  and 
stores  which  had  been  brought  from  the  camp  to  Teherkask  the 
previous  autumn. 

On  the  night  of  May  28,  a  messenger  arrived  from  Flor 
Minaef,  the  Ataman  of  the  Don  Cossacks — who,  with  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  men,  had  been  sent  to  make  a  reconnoissance  at 
the  mouth  of  the  river — that  he  had  seen  two  Turkish  ships  and 
had  vainly  attacked  them.  Peter  immediately  communicated 
this  fact  to  Gordon  and  hastened  off  down  the  river,  followed  by 


Peter 


the   Dress  he  wore  at  Azof. 


1696.]  TURKISH   FLEET   BETKEAT8.  255 

Gordon  and  his  troops.  He  stopped  :it  the  forts  of  Kalantchi, 
where  the  arrival  of  the  army  was  hailed  with  joy.  At  a  coun- 
eil  of  war,  it  was  resolved  that  the  Tsar,  with  his  nine  galleys, 
on  which,  he  embarked  one  of  Gordon's  regiments,  and  ETlor 
Minaef,  with  forty  Cossack  boats  holding  twenty  men  each, 
should  steal  down  the  river  and  attack  the  Turkish  ships,  while 
General  Gordon  made  a  military  diversion  in  front  of  Azof. 
Unfortunately,  a  strong  north  wind  blew,  which  rendered  the 
shallow  channel  still  more  shallow.  The  galleys  got  aground, 
and  were  at  last  obliged  to  return  to  Kalantchi,  or,  as  it  Mas 
then  called,  ISovo-Serghiefsk,  in  commemoration  of  St.  Sergius, 
the  protector  of  the  country  of  the  Don.  Peter  had  himself 
embarked  on  a  Cossack  boat  and  gone  to  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
where  he  found  not  two  but  thirty  large  Turkish  ships,  with  a 
considerable  number  of  galleys,  barges,  and  lighters.  It  seemed 
to  the  Tsar  too  great  a  risk  to  attack  these  large  ships  with  the 
light  Cossack  boats,  and  he  therefore  returned  to  the  fort,  where 
he  arrived  about  midnight.  The  next  morning,  at  ten  o'clock, 
he  visited  Gordon  and  told  him  the  story, '  looking  very  melan- 
choly and  grieved,'  but  at  three  o'clock  he  came  back  with  other 
news.  What  he  had  not  been  willing  to  order,  the  river  pirates 
of  the  Don  had  done  of  their  own  accord.  By  his  directions, 
the  Cossacks  had  waited  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  for  observa- 
tion. During  the  day,  either  not  noticing  the  Cossacks,  or  dis- 
regarding them,  the  Turks  had  transshipped  to  the  lighters  a 
quantit}r  of  stores  and  ammunition,  and  sent  them  under  a  con- 
voy of  Janissaries  up  the  river  to  Azof.  A  force  of  about  five 
hundred  Janissaries  was  landed  at  a  mouth  of  the  river,  and 
succeeded  in  getting  to  the  town  with  a  considerable  number  of 
arms.  When  night  came  on,  the  Cossacks,  who  were  on  the 
watch,  attacked  the  lighters,  and  succeeded  in  capturing  ten  of 
them  with  all  their  contents,  while  the  Turkish  soldiers,  thor- 
oughly frightened,  after  almost  no  resistance,  went  back  to  their 
ships.  The  news  of  this  attack  wrought  such  consternation  that 
the  whole  of  the  Turkish  fleet  weighed  anchor  and  sailed  off, 
with  the  exception  of  two  vessels,  which  could  not  be  got  ready 
soon  enough.  One  of  these  the  Turks  themselves  sank,  and 
the  other  was  burnt  by  the  Cossacks.  In  this  way,  a  large 
quantity  of  stores    and  ammunition  was  obtained,  and  thirty 


256  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

men  were  taken  prisoners.  Two  hours  later,  Peter  was  again  on 
his  wav  to  the  mouth  of  the  river,  and  was  speedily  followed  by 
Gordon  with  a  detachment  of  troops. 

In  the  course  of  a  few  days,  the  remainder  of  the  army  and 
of  the  iieet  arrived  at  Xovo-Serghiefsk,  and  Peter  stationed 
himself,  with  his  whole  flotilla  of  twenty-nine  galleys,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river,  and  completely  cutoff  the  Turkish  commu- 
nications with  Azof.  By  his  directions,  General  Gordon  began 
to  erect  two  small  forts,  which  were  completed  under  his  per- 
sonal supervision,  and  when  they  were  thoroughly  armed  and 
garrisoned,  he  wrote  to  Ramodanofsky  :  '  We  are  now  entirely 
out  of  danger  of  the  Turkish  fleet.' 

The  garrison  of  Azof  had  apparently  not  expected  the  return 
of  the  Russians,  and  had  taken  no  precautions  to  fill  up  the 
trenches  dug  in  the  previous  year.  The  besieging  troops  had, 
therefore,  little  more  to  do  than  to  take  their  old  places ;  and 
owing  to  their  increased  numbers,  they  were  able  fully  to  occupy 
the  necessary  positions,  and  especially  to  guard  the  approaches 
along  the  river-bank.  At  first  there  was  little  opposition  on  the 
part  of  the  garrison.  One  small  sortie  was  made,  which  was 
speedily  repulsed.  On  June  20,  the  Tartars  from  the  steppe 
crept  up  to  the  camp,  and  attacked  it  in  force,  but  the  noble  ca- 
valiers from  Moscow  repulsed  them  for  several  miles.  Xuradm 
Sultan  himself  went  off  with  an  arrow  in  his  shoulder,  shot  by 
a  Kalmuk.  Ayiika-Khan  had  promised  to  send  all  his  Ivalmuks 
to  the  Russian  assistance,  but  only  a  small  body  came  in  time ; 
the  main  body  arrived  a  few  days  after  Azof  was  taken. 

A  large  Turkish  fleet  which  came  up  to  the  mouths  of  the 
Don  was  for  two  weeks  inactive,  and  finally,  when  about  to 
land  some  troops  to  relieve  the  siege,  the  Pasha  was  so  fright- 
ened at  the  appearance  of  the  Russian  flotilla,  that  the  fleet  im- 
mediately set  sail,  and  went  out  to  sea. 

Peter  lived  chiefly  on  his  galley  '  Principium,'  looking  after 
the  Turkish  fleet,  coming  from  time  to  time  to  the  camp  before 
Azof  to  see  how  operations  were  progressing,  and  personally 
opening  the  cannonade  on  the  evening  of  June  26th.  The  Tar- 
tars in  the  steppe  made  several  other  attacks,  which  were  re- 
pulsed, and  on  the  name's-day  of  the  Tsar,  the  Russians,  be- 
lieving that  the  beseiged  were  in  sore  straits,  shot  an  arrow  into 


1696.]  PROGRESS   OF   THE   SIEGE.  257 

the  town  with  a  letter  offering  the  garrison  honourable  terms, 
and  promising  to  permit  them  to  leave  the  city  with  all  their 
arms  and  baggage.     The  answer  was  a  cannonade. 

Meanwhile,  the  soldiery  were  discontented  even  at  this 
short  siege,  and  the  general  opinion  was  that  the  work  should 
be  prosecuted  in  the  old  fashion,  by  means  of  piling  up  an 
enormous  mound  of  earth,  which  could  be  gradually  pushed  for- 
ward so  as  to  fill  up  the  ditch  and  topple  over  upon  the  Avail. 
General  Gordon  resolved  to  comply  with  this  feeling,  and  no  less 
than  15,000  men  worked  daily  on  the  construction  of  this  enor- 
mous mound.  On  July  21,  when  the  mound  had  already  be- 
come so  high  and  so  great  that  the  streets  of  the  town  could  be 
seen,  and  the  Russian  and  Turkish  soldiers  came  even  to  hand- 
to-hand  conflicts,  the  engineers  arrived  who  had  been  sent  by 
the  Emperor  Leopold  in  compliance  with  the  Tsar's  request. 
They  had  not  hastened  on  their  way,  for  they  had  been  fully 
three  months  in  going  from  Vienna  to  Smolensk,  two  weeks 
more  from  Smolensk  to  Moscow,  and  about  a  month  from  Mos- 
cow to  Azof.  They  excused  the  slowness  of  their  journey  by 
the  fact  that  at  Vienna  they  did  not  expect  such  an  early  start, 
and  could  learn  nothing  from  the  Russian  envoy  Xephimonof, 
who  professed  to  have  no  knowledge  of  the  military  operations. 
Their  words  were  confirmed  by  Ukraintsef,  the  official  in  charge 
of  the  foreign  office,  who  naively  reported  that  he  had  sent 
no  information  about  the  army  to  Vienna,  lest  Nephimonof 
should  publish  it.  Peter  was  irritated  by  what  seemed  to  him 
stupidity,  and  with  his  own  hand  wrote  to  Vinius  the  following 
amusing  letter : 

'  Thy  brother-in-law  has  mightily  angered  me  that  he  keeps 
Ivosma  (Xephimonof)  without  any  news  of  our  war.  Is  he 
not  ashamed  ?  Whatever  they  ask  about  he  knows  nothing, 
and  yet  he  was  sent  for  such  a  great  matter.  In  his  des- 
patches to  Nikita  Moiseievitch  (Zotof)  he  writes  about  Polish 
matters  when  there  was  no  need  at  all,  but  he  has  forgotten 
the  side  of  the  Emperor,  where  was  all  our  hope  of  alliance. 
Has  he  any  healthy  good  sense  ?  Entrusted  with  state  mat- 
ters, yet  he  conceals  what  everybody  knows.  Just  tell  him 
that  what  he  does  not  write  on  paper  I  shall  write  on  his 
back.' 

Vol.  I.— 17 


258  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

The  imperial  engineers  were  surprised  at  the  magnitude  of 
the  mound,  but,  nevertheless,  expected  little  profit  from  it. 
They  advised  mines  and  trenches  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  im- 
mediately gave  instructions  about  the  placing  of  batteries,  by 
which  an  impression  was  soon  made  on  one  of  the  bastions. 
Hitherto  no  injury  had  been  done,  except  to  the  houses  in  the 
town,  which  had  all  been  ruined. 

The  Zaporovian  Cossacks  had  become  disgusted  with  the 
slowness  of  the  siege  and  with  the  heavy  work  on  the  mound, 
and  were,  besides  that,  experiencing  a  shortness  of  commons. 
They  therefore  made  a  private  arrangement  with  the  Cossacks 
of  the  Don,  and,  on  July  27th,  without  orders,  two  thousand  of 
them,  headed  by  Lizogiib,  their  chief,  and  Flor  Minaef,  the 
Ataman  of  the  Don,  stormed  the  fortification  from  the  mound, 
and  made  an  entry  into  the  town.  Had  they  been  properly 
supported  by  the  soldiery  and  Streltsi — who  remained  inactive 
in  their  camp — they  would  have  taken  it.  As  it  was,  they 
were  beaten  back,  and  obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the  corner  bas- 
tion, which  they  held.  Here  they  were  at  last  reinforced  by 
the  troops  of  General  Golovin,  and  succeeded  in  taking  another 
bastion.  The  next  day,  the  commander-in-chief  resolved  on  a 
general  assault,  but  meanwhile  the  Turks  decided  to  surrender 
on  condition  that,  with  their  wives  and  children,  they  should  be 
allowed  to  leave  the  place  with  all  the  honours  of  war.  This 
was  granted.  The  Pasha  surrendered  all  the  Russian  prisoners 
without  question,  and  gave  up  those  Dissenters  who  had  taken 
refuge  in  Azof,  and  who  had  not  already  become  Mussulmans. 
The  only  dispute  was  about  the  deserter  and  traitor  Janson, 
who  had  become  a  Mussulman.  The  Russians  insisted  on  his 
surrender,  and  the  Pasha  finally  yielded.  Janson  was  brought 
into  the  Russian  camp,  tied  hand  and  foot,  screaming  to  his 
guards : 

'  Cut  off  my  head,  but  don't  give  me  up  to  Moscow ! ' 

The  next  morning,  the  garrison,  fully  armed,  with  all  their 
banners,  marched  through  the  Russian  lines,  some  to  the  Turk- 
ish fleet,  and  others  on  their  way  to  the  steppe.  Crowded  to- 
gether and  without  order,  they  presented  a  sorry  spectacle,  and 
only  the  Pasha  kept  up  his  dignity.     On  reaching  the  place  of 


1696.]  FALL   OF  AZOF.  259 

embarkation,  where  the  generalissimo  She'm  was  on  his  horse 
awaiting  him,  the  Pasha  thanked  him  for  the  manner  in  which 
he  had  kept  his  word,  lowered  his  standards  to  him  as  a  token 
of  respect,  and  bade  him  good-by. 

After  the  departure  of  the  Turks,  ten  Russian  regiments 
marched  into  the  utterly  ruined  town,  where  not  one  house  was 
uninjured.  The  Zaporovian  Cossacks  could  not  be  restrained, 
and  went  everywhere  in  search  of  plunder.  Nothing  of  any 
importance  was  found,  although  cellars  and  secret  recesses  were 
dug  up  in  all  directions.  There  came,  however,  to  the  Govern- 
ment a  considerable  booty  in  the  shape  of  cannon  and  pow- 
der, but  there  were  almost  no  small  arms,  and  bullets  were  en- 
tirely wanting.  Indeed,  during  the  last  resistance  offered  to 
the  Cossacks  in  the  final  assault,  it  was  necessary  to  cut  gold 
ducats  into  small  pieces  to  furnish  ammunition.  The  little 
fort  of  Lutik,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dead  Donetz,  was 
not  included  in  the  capitulation,  but  speedily  surrendered, 
and  the  Russians  were  left  in  full  possession  of  the  mouths 
of  the  Don. 

One  of  the  first  tasks  which  Peter  set  himself  was  to  find  a 
suitable  harbour  for  his  flotilla,  and  for  that  purpose  he  explored 
the  coast  on  each  side.  The  mouths  of  the  Don,  which  were 
shallow  or  deep  according  to  the  wind,  afforded  no  secure  ref- 
uge, and  it  was  necessary  to  find  a  place  which  might  be  turned 
into  a  safe  port.  After  a  week  spent  in  surveying,  when  he 
slept  on  the  bench  of  a  galley,  almost  fasting,  Peter  decided 
on  an  anchorage  under  a  cape  long  known  to  the  Cossacks  as 
Tagan-rog,  or  the  Tagan  Horn.  Here  he  ordered  the  construc- 
tion of  a  fortress,  as  well  as  of  another  a  little  beyond,  at 
Otchakof-rog,  and  then  entrusted  the  imperial  engineer  Laval 
with  the  task  of  properly  fortifying  the  town  of  Azof,  so  that 
it  should  be  impregnable  to  assaults  by  the  Turks.  The  town 
was  cleared  as  speedily  as  possible  of  its  ruins,  Turkish  mosques 
were  quickly  transformed  into  Christian  churches,  and  there 
Peter  heard  divine  service  before  starting  on  his  homeward 
march. 

The  fall  of  Azof  produced  great  consternation  at  Constanti- 
nople.    The  Bey  of  Konieh  and  two  other  officials  were  exe- 


260  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

rated,  all  the  Janissaries  who  could  be  found  were  arrested  and 
their  goods  sequestered,  while  the  poor  commandant  who  had 
surrendered  the  town,  Kala'ilikoz  Ahmed  Pasha,  was  obliged 
to  fly  to  save  his  life,  and  lost  the  whole  of  his  property,  which 
was  confiscated  to  the  Treasury.' 

1  Solovief,  xiv.;   Ustrialof,  II.,  x.,  xi.;  Gordon's  Diary;  Posselt,  Lefort;  t 
Zheliabtizhky,  Memoirs  (Russian) ;   Yelaghin,  History  of  the   Russian  Fleet 
(Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  180-4;  Veselago,  Sketch  of  Russian  Natal  History 
(  Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  1873  ;  A.  Gordon,  History  of  Peter  the  Great,  Aber- 
deen, 1755. 


XXVII. 

THE  EFFECT  OF   THE  VICTORY.— BUILDING  A  FLEET   IN 

EARNEST.— 1696-7. 

It  can  be  imagined  with  what  delight  the  news  of  the  sur- 
render was  received  at  Moscow.  '  When  your  letter  came,'  wrote 
Vinius  to  the  Tsar,  '  there  were  many  guests  at  the  house  of 
Leo  Kiriloviteh  (Naryshkin).  He  immediately  sent  me  with  it 
to  the  Patriarch.  His  Holiness,  on  reading  it,  burst  into  tears, 
ordered  the  great  bell  to  be  rung,  and,  in  the  presence  of  the 
Tsaritsa  and  of  the  Tsarevitch,  gave  thanks  to  the  Almighty. 
All  talked  with  astonishment  of  the  humility  of  their  lord,  who, 
after  such  a  great  victory,  has  not  lifted  up  his  own  heart,  but 
has  ascribed  all  to  the  Creator  of  heaven,  and  has  praised  only 
his  assistants,  although  every  one  knows  that  it  was  by  your 
plan  alone,  and  by  the  aid  you  got  from  the  sea,  that  such  a 
noted  town  has  bowed  down  to  your  feet.' 

All  Peter's  friends  burst  into  a  chorus  of  praise  for  his 
bravery,  his  genius,  his  humility,  likening  him  to  St.  Peter,  to 
Samson,  and  to  David.  In  reply  to  the  congratulations  of 
Vinius,  Peter  quoted  the  verse  '  the  labourer  is  worthy  of  his 
hire,'  and  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  meet  and  proper  thing 
to  honour  him  and  the  generalissimo  with  a  triumphal  arch, 
which  might  be  placed  near  one  of  the  bridges  over  the 
Moskva.  While  the  arch  was  being  built  and  the  preparations 
made  for  the  solemn  entry  of  the  troops,  Peter  busied  himself 
for  several  weeks  in  visiting  the  ironworks  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Tula.  Here  he  undoubtedly  met  the  celebrated  black- 
smith Xikita  Demidof,  who  subsequently  received  those  grants 
of  mining  land  in  the  Ural  which  have  led  to  the  immense 
fortune  of  the  present  Demidof  family.  NiMta  Demidof  was 
already  known  to  Peter,  at  lea^t  by  reputation,  as  the  clever- 


262  PETER  THE  GREAT. 

est  smith  and  iron-forger  in  all  this  region.  Mazeppa  met  the 
Tsar  on  the  road  from  Voronezh  to  Tula,  presented  him  with  a 
magnificent  sabre,  the  hilt  and  scabbard  of  which  were  studded 
with  precious  stones,  and  informed  him  of  the  brave  deeds  done 
by  the  Zaporovian  Cossacks  during  the  summer.  It  seemed 
that  about  fifteen  hundred  of  these  braves  sailed  down  the 
Dnieper  past  the  fortifications  of  Otchakof,  and  hovered  along 
the  Crimean  coast  until  they  met  three  merchant  vessels  sailing 
under  the  Turkish  flag  to  Caffa.  Two  of  these  they  captured 
and  burned,  after  they  had  transferred  the  cargoes,  the  guns, 
and  forty  prisoners  to  their  boats.  Coasting  still  further  along, 
they  met  three  more  ships  coming  out  from  the  Azof  Sea,  and 
had  already  captured  one  of  them,  when  three  Turkish  gal- 
leys came  up.  In  the  fight,  the  Cossack  commander  was  killed, 
and  some  confusion  ensued,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
turned  tail,  vigorously  pursued  by  the  enemy.  Unfortunately 
for  them,  the  Turkish  commander  at  Otchakof  was  on  the 
look-out,  and  they  were  obliged  to  take  refuge  on  a  desert  isl- 
and, where  they  concealed  their  booty.  Crossing  to  the  main- 
laud,  they  then  burnt  their  boats,  and  marched  home  with  their 
prisoners.  The  small  detachment  left  to  guard  the  booty  was 
betrayed  by  a  Turk,  and  was  captured  after  a  long  struggle. 

After  the  Tsar  had  finished  his  inspection  of  the  ironworks, 
he  met  his  troops  at  Kolomenskoe,  and  made  his  triumphal 
entry  into  Moscow  on  October  10.  It  had  been  very  long  since 
the  Russians  had  had  a  real  victory  to  celebrate,  not,  indeed, 
since  the  early  days  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  and,  in  any  case,  a  sight 
like  the  present  was  new  to  Moscow.  The  gilded  carriages  of 
the  generalissimo  and  the  admiral,  the  gorgeous  trappings  and 
rich  costumes  of  the  boyars,  the  retainers  in  armour  and  coats 
of  mail,  the  Streltsi  in  new  uniforms,  the  triumphal  arch  with 
its  pictures  and  inscriptions,  presented  a  brilliant  spectacle  ;  but 
it  was  with  great  surprise,  and  not  without  displeasure,  that  the 
people  of  Moscow  saw  their  Tsar  in  German  dress  and  hat — the 
uniform  of  a  ship-captain — walking  in  the  suite  of  Admiral 
Lefort. 

The  success  of  the  Russian  arms  created  a  deep  impression 
everywhere  in  Europe,  sometimes  of  astonishment,  sometimes 
of  admiration.    In  Warsaw,  it  was  not  hailed  with  great  enthu- 


1696.]  EFFECT   OF   THE   VICTORY.  263 

siasm  by  the  governing  classes.  King  Jan  Sobieski  had  died 
during  the  summer,  and  the  diet  had  as  yet  been  unable  to  elect 
a  successor.  The  French  were  intriguing  for  the  election  of  the 
Prince  de  Conti,  a  nephew  of  the  great  Conde,  and  had  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  election  transferred  to  a  general  assem- 
bly of  the  Polish  nobility.  Another  party  was  supporting  the 
claims  of  Augustus  the  Strong,  Elector  of  Saxony,  and  it  was 
believed  in  Moscow  that  the  Pope  had  recommended  the  choice 
of  the  exiled  James  II.  of  England.  Even  before  the  surren- 
der of  Azof,  a  Frenchman,  Fourni,  who  was  returning  through 
Warsaw  after  having  conducted  some  foreign  officers  to  Russia, 
spoke  to  some  of  the  nobles  with  praise  of  the  Russian  deeds  in 
front  of  Azof,  and  especially  of  the  acts  of  the  young  Tsar. 
The  senators  listened,  shook  their  heads  and  said :  '  What  a 
careless  and  reckless  young  man !  What  can  be  expected  of 
him  now? '  The  voievode  Mazincki  remarked  :  '  The  Moskals 
ought  to  remember  what  they  owe  to  the  late  King  Jan,  how 
he  raised  them  up  and  made  them  a  mighty  people,  for  if  he 
had  not  concluded  an  alliance  with,  them,  they  would  have  paid 
tribute  to  the  Crimea  until  now,  and  would  have  set  quietly 
at  home,  while  now  they  are  getting  polished.'  To  this  the 
voievode  of  Plock  remarked  :  '  It  would  have  been  better  if  they 
still  sat  at  home.  It  would  be  no  hurt  to  us.  After  they  have 
got  polished,  and  have  smelt  blood,  you  will  see  what  will  come 
of  it ;  though  may  the  Lord  God  never  let  it  come  to  this  ! ' 

Xikitin,  the  Russian  Resident  at  Warsaw,  received  the  news 
of  the  capture  of  Azof  on  September  8,  during  divine  service, 
and  immediately  ordered  a  Te  Deum,  and  fired  a  salute,  amid 
the  hurrahs  of  the  worshippers.  Four  days  later,  Xikitin,  in  a 
solemn  session  of  the  Senate,  gave  to  the  Primate  the  Tsars 
formal  letter  announcing  the  event,  and  made  a  speech  in  which, 
with  all  the  flowery  language  of  the  time,  he  spoke  of  the 
triumph  over  the  heathen,  urged  the  Poles  to  advance  towards 
Constantinople,  and  assured  them  that  perhaps  Arabia  itself 
would  be  open  to  the  free  Polish  eagle;  that  now  was  the  time 
for  a  crusade  against  the  infidel ;  that  now  was  the  time  to  con- 
quer countries  and  gain  new  and  lawful  titles  for  the  Polish 
crown,  instead  of  using  titles  forbidden  by  treaties.  In  reply 
to  the  threat  in  the  concluding  words.  Xikitin  was  shortly  after- 


•JCl  PETEE  THE  GREAT. 

wards  informed  by  the  imperial  ambassadors  that  the  senators 
had  been  frightened,  and  had  resolved  that  in  future  the  King 
should  not  use  the  title  of  Grand  Duke  of  Kief  and  Smolensk, 
but  added  that  the  nobility  were  not  very  glad  of  the  capture 
of  A /.of,  although  the  common  people  were  delighted.  A  few 
days  Inter,  formal  congratulations  were  sent  to  the  Resident, 
Te  1  >eums  were  chanted  in  all  the  churches,  and  a  salute  fired; 
but,  at  the  same  time,  negotiations  were  begun  with  the  Tartars 
and  with  Mazeppa.  Sapieha,  the  hetman  of  Lithuania,  even 
tried  to  diminish  the  success  of  the  Russian  arms  by  saying  to 
Xikitin  that  Azof  had  not  been  captured  by  arms,  but  had 
surrendered. 

If  there  were  any  at  Moscow — either  magnates  or  peasants 
— who,  in  the  general  joy,  thought  that  with  the  capture  of 
Azof  the  day  of  sacrifices  was  past,  they  were  grievously  dis- 
appointed. They  little  knew  what  ideas  were  already  ferment- 
ing in  Peter's  mind.  While  in  front  of  Azof,  and  even  before 
its  capture,  Peter  had  written  to  the  Venetian  Senate,  begging 
them,  for  the  profit  of  all  Christians,  to  send  to  Moscow  thirteen 
good  shipwrights  who  could  construct  all  sorts  of  vessels  of 
war.  He  had  already  the  design  of  establishing  a  large  fleet 
on  the  Black  Sea.  Xo  sooner  had  the  festivities  in  Moscow 
ended  than,  at  a  general  council  of  the  boyars,  it  was  decided 
to  send  3,000  families  of  peasants  and  3,000  Streltsi  and 
soldiers  to  populate  the  empty  town  of  Azof,  and  firmly  to  es- 
tablish the  Russian  power  at  the  mouth  of  the  Don.  At  a 
second  council,  Peter  stated  the  absolute  necessity  for  a  large 
fleet,  and  apparently  with  such  convincing  arguments,  that  the 
assembly  decided  that  one  should  be  built.  Both  civilians  and 
clergy  were  called  upon  for  sacrifices.  Every  landed  pro- 
prietor possessing  10,000  peasant  houses,  every  monastery  pos- 
sessing 8,000,  was  obliged  to  construct  a  ship  fully  equipped 
and  armed,  which  should  be  entirely  completed  not  later  than 
the  month  of  April,  1698.  The  merchants  were  called  upon  to 
contribute  twelve  mortar-boats,  all  other  landed  proprietors  who 
possessed  not  less- than  100  peasant  houses  were  ordered  to 
Moscow  to  enrol  themselves  into  companies  for  the  construction 
of  ships.  Details  are  known  about  sixty-one  of  these  com- 
panies, of  which  nineteen  were  composed  of  the  clergy.     The 


1697.]  SHIP   BUILDING.  265 

ships  and  galleys  were  to  be  built  at  Voronezh.  The  Govern- 
ment found  the  timber,  but  the  companies  were  to  provide  the 
metal-work,  the  cordage,  and  all  the  other  equipments,  as  well 
as  the  armament.  Some  of  these  companies  found  that  so  much 
time  was  lost  in  getting  the  material  together  that  there  was 
danger  of  their  not  fulfilling  the  precise  orders  of  the  Tsar,  and 
of  being  exposed  to  heavy  penalties.  For  that  reason,  nearly 
all  the  vessels  were  built  by  contractors,  who  were  chiefly 
foreigners  from  the  German  suburb.  Among  those  we  notice 
particularly  Franz  Timmermann,  who  was  also  a  Government 
contractor,  the  Danish  Resident,  Butenant  von  Rosenbusch, 
and  Ysbrandt  Ides,  who  had  recently  returned  from  his  mission 
to  China.  This  arrangement  was  approved  by  the  Tsar,  and 
most  of  the  ships  were  ready  at  the  appointed  time.  Ten  large 
vessels  were  also  built  by  the  state. 

The  Venetian  Senate,  in  reply  to  the  request  of  the  Tsar, 
sent  a  number  of  shipwrights  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Giacomo  Moro,  who  arrived  in  January,  1697,  and  who  showed 
such  great  skill  in  the  construction  of  galleys  that  the  Tsar,  on 
sending  them  home  at  the  completion  of  their  work,  expressed 
to  the  Venetian  authorities  his  liveliest  gratitude.  There  were, 
besides,  many  shipwrights  from  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  Hol- 
land, obtained  through  the  intervention  of  Franz  Timmermann 
and  of  the  Danish  Resident.  Let  us  quote  again  from  the  pre- 
face of  the  Maritime  Regulations,  where  Peter  says : 

'  On  this  account  he  turned  his  whole  mind  to  the  construc- 
tion of  a  fleet,  and  when,  on  account  of  the  Tartar  insults,  the 
siege  of  Azof  was  begun,  and  afterwards  that  town  was  fortu- 
nately taken,  then,  according  to  his  unchangeable  will,  he  did  not 
endure  thinking  long  about  it.  He  quickly  set  about  the  work. 
A  suitable  place  for  ship-building  was  found  on  the  liver  Voro- 
nezh, close  to  the  town  of  that  name,  skilful  shipwrights 
were  called  from  England  and  Holland,  and  in  1696  there  began 
a  new  work  in  Russia — the  construction  of  great  war-ships, 
galleys,  and  other  vessels ;  and  so  that  this  might  be  for  ever 
secured  in  Russia,  and  that  he  might  introduce  among  his 
people  the  art  of  this  business,  he  sent  many  people  of  noble 
families  to  Holland  and  other  states  to  learn  the  building  and 
management   of   ships;  and  that  the  monarch  might  not  be 


266  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

shamefully  behind  his  subjects  in  that  trade,  he  himself  under- 
took a  journey  to  Holland;  and  in  Amsterdam,  at  the  East 
India  wharf,  giving  himself  up,  with  other  volunteers,  to  the 
learning  <>i  naval  architecture,  he  got  what  was  necessary  for  a 
good  carpenter  to  know,  and,  by  his  own  work  and  skill,  con- 
structed and  launched  a  new  ship.' 

V<>\-  the  purpose  mentioned  in  the  preceding  extract,  Peter 
sent  abroad  fifty  nobles,  representatives  of  the  highest  and  most 
distinguished  families  in  the  empire.  Twenty-eight  were  or- 
dered to  Italy,  especially  to  Venice,  where  they  might  learn  the 
art  of  building  galleys,  the  remainder  to  Holland  and  England. 
Each  was  accompanied  by  a  soldier.  According  to  their  in- 
structions, they  were  to  make  themselves  familiar  with  the  use 
of  charts,  compasses,  and  navigation ;  they  were  to  learn  thor- 
oughly the  art  of  ship-building,  and  were  to  become  practised 
in  the  duties  of  common  sailors.  Xo  one  was  to  return  with- 
out permission,  and  without  a  certificate  attesting  his  profi- 
ciency, on  penalty  of  the  confiscation  of  all  his  property.  They 
were  obliged  to  pay  their  own  expenses.  Most  of  them  were 
married  and  had  children,  and  we  can  imagine  their  feelings, 
and  those  of  their  families,  on  being  thus  summarily  sent  to 
unknown  and  heretical  lands  to  become  common  sailors.  In 
point  of  fact,  several  of  them  turned  their  stay  abroad  to  profit, 
and  like  Kurakin,  Dolgoriiky,  Tolstoi,  and  Hilkof,  became  skil- 
ful diplomatists,  able  administrators  and  useful  servants  of 
Peter  and  his  successors  ;  but  not  one  distinguished  himself  in 
naval  matters.1 

1  Solovief,  xiv.  ;  Ustrialof,  II.,  xii. ;  Yelaghin  ;  Yeselugo;  Posselt,  Lefort. 


XXVIII. 

RUSSIANS  ABROAD. 

During  the  reign  of  Ivan  the  Terrible  and  his  son  Theodore, 
young  Russian  theological  students  were  sometimes  sent  to  Con- 
stantinople to  learn  Greek,  and  Boris  Godunof,  as  has  been  al- 
ready said,  sent  a  number  of  youths  of  good  family  to  Lilbeck, 
France,  and  England,  for  the  completion  of  their  education. 
These  last  found  foreign  life  so  attractive  that  only  two  of  them 
returned.  Under  the  Tsar  Alexis,  the  children  of  foreigners 
living  in  Moscow  were  sometimes  sent  abroad  at  the  expense  of 
the  Government  to  study  medicine,  and  even  a  Russian,  Peter 
Postnikof,  the  son  of  a  high  official  in  the  Foreign  Office,  was 
sent,  in  1692,  to  Italy  for  the  same  purpose.  He  passed  a  dis- 
tinguished examination  at  Padua  in  1696,  and  received  the  de- 
gree of  Doctor  of  Medicine,  as  well  as  that  of  Doctor  of  Phil- 
osophy. He  did  not,  however,  long  pursue  the  practice  of  the 
healing  art,  for  on  account  of  his  knowledge  of  Latin,  French, 
and  Italian,  the  Government  employed  him  in  diplomatic  affairs. 

"With  these  exceptions,  most  of  the  Russians  who  had  trav- 
elled abroad  up  to  this  time,  had  been  either  pilgrims  or  diplo- 
matists.1 To  some  of  these  pilgrims  we  owe  highly  interesting 
accounts  of  Constantinople  and  the  Holy  Land,  both  before  and 
after  the  occupation  of  the  Imperial  city  by  the  Turks.  The 
Abbot  Daniel  describes  his  meeting  with  Baldwin,  King  of 
Jerusalem,  in  1115.  The  Deacon  Ignatius  was  present  at  the 
coronation  of  the  Emperor  Manuel  in  1391,  and  Simeon   of 

1  Occasionally,  but  rarely,  a  Russian  merchant  ventured  abroad.  We  know 
of  the  mishaps  of  Laptef  (see  p.  230),  and  we  should  not  forget  the  brave 
merchant  of  Tver,  Athanasius  Nikitin,  who  has  left  us  an  entertaining  story 
of  his  journey  through  India  in  1468. 


268  PETEB   THE   GEEAT. 

Suzdal  accompanied  the  Metropolitan  Isidore  to  the  council  of 
Florence  in  I  t39. 

The  pilgrims  wore  occupied  chiefly  with  relics  and  with  re- 
ligious ceremonies.  The  diplomatists,  although,  like  all  good 
Christians,  they  did  not  neglect  these,  were  more  busied  with 
court  ceremonies  and  with  formal  official  relations.  Xot  under- 
standing the  language  of  the  countries  to  which  they  were  sent, 
their  reports  are  very  dry  and  meagre,  and  taken  up  almost  ex- 
clusively with  exact  accounts  of  the  interviews  they  had  with 
the  ministers  of  foreign  affairs,  of  their  audiences  with  the 
sovereigns,  and  of  their  disputes  on  points  of  etiquette.  They 
say  almost  nothing  about  the  political  state  of  the  countries  in 
which  they  travelled.  Indeed,  they  were  not  in  a  condition  to 
obtain  information  on  these  subjects.  They  had  not  sufficient 
experience  of  political  life,  much  less  of  a  political  life  differing 
from  that  of  Russia,  to  know  to  what  points  to  direct  their  at- 
tention, or  how  to  make  inquiries  through  an  interpreter.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  what  impression  even  was  made  on  them  by  for- 
eign countries,  or  whether  they  were  pleased  by  a  life  so  differ- 
ent from  that  at  home.  Incidentally,  we  know  that  their  stay 
abroad  must  have  been  agreeable  to  them,  for  frequently  some 
members  of  their  suite  ran  away  in  order  not  to  return  to  Rus- 
sia. We  can  see,  too,  that  they  were  greatly  interested  in  the 
canals  and  quays  at  Amsterdam,  Bologna,  and  Verona.  They 
were  much  pleased  with  the  magnificent  gardens  of  Holland 
and  Italy,  to  which  those  made  for  the  Tsar  Alexis  were  so  far 
inferior,  and  in  these  their  admiration  was  especially  excited  by 
the  fish-ponds  and  fountains.  Works  of  art  they  were  too  un- 
cultivated and  unrefined  to  enjoy.  The  theatre  pleased  them 
more,  but  here  they  were  chiefly  struck  by  the  costumes  and  the 
scenery.  Ignorance  of  the  language  prevented  them  from  ap- 
preciating the  play  or  the  acting,  and  the  greatest  opera-singers 
were  to  them  so  many  '  wenches.'  Zoological  gardens  and  the 
collections  of  curiosities,  which  at  that  time  contained  a  mixture 
of  the  scientific,  the  rare,  the  monstrous,  and  the  odd,  interested 
them  greatly.  Their  deepest  impressions  were,  perhaps,  those 
of  the  comfort,  as  well  as  of  the  luxury,  of  Western  life.  The 
comfort,  probably,  rhey  appreciated  the  more.  For  the  intro- 
duction of  luxury,  little  more  than  a  command  of  money  was 


SHEREMETIEF.  269 

required ;  for  the  appropriation  of  comfort,  there  were  neces- 
sary an  organisation  of  social  life  and  a  careful  management 
which  it  took  many  long  years  to  naturalise  in  Russia.  Some 
of  the  more  observing  diplomatists  did  indeed  learn  something 
of  public  life,  and  gained  ideas  which  were  useful  to  them  at 
home.  The  financial  and  economical  reforms  of  A  lexis  Kur- 
batof  were  the  immediate  fruits  of  what  he  had  learned  when 
accompanying  the  boyar  Sheremetief.  Ukraintsef  would  never 
have  been  the  skilful  diplomatist  he  was,  had  it  not  been  for  his 
experience  in  several  embassies,  and  Zheliabuzhky  owed  much  to 
his  stay  in  London,  and  his  journey  to  Italy.  In  nearly  all  cases, 
even  though  on  their  return  the  travellers  sank  back  into  Rus- 
sian life  and  Russian  ways,  their  experience  in  the  West  must 
have  given  them  a  certain  enlargement  of  mind,  and  a  certain 
readiness  to  receive  new  ideas  must  have  sensibly  weakened 
their  prejudices  against  what  was  foreign,  and  have  powerfully 
aided  in  the  Europeanization  of  Russia. 

The  most  illustrious  traveller  of  that  day  was  the  boyar 
Boris  Sheremetief.  lie  had  gone  to  Lemberg  in  1686,  to  re- 
ceive the  ratification  of  the  Russian -Polish  treaty  by  King  Jan 
Sobieski,  and  had  afterwards  announced  it  at  Vienna ;  but,  in 
1697,  after  the  fatigue  of  his  campaigns  against  the  Turks  and 
Tartars,  he  asked  permission  to  go  abroad  as  a  simple  traveller 
for  the  purpose  of  fulfilling  a  vow  which  he  had  made  when  in 
danger,  to  pray  at  the  tombs  of  the  Holy  Apostles  Peter  and 
Paul  at  Pome.  This  request,  which  fell  in  so  well  with  the 
views  of  Peter  at  that  time,  was  readily  granted,  and  Shereme- 
tief was  given  letters  by  the  Tsar  to  the  King  of  Poland,  the 
Emperor  Leopold,  the  Doge  of  Yenice,  Pope  Innocent  XII., 
and  the  Grand  Master  of  Malta.  Although  he  travelled  simply 
as  a  tourist,  he  apparently  had  instructions  to  inquire  into  the 
relations  of  Yenice,  and  especially  of  Malta,  with  the  Orient, 
and  to  see  what  dependence  could  be  placed  on  them,  or  what 
aid  be  expected  from  them,  in  case  of  the  continuation  of  the 
war  with  Turkey.  Sheremetief  left  Moscow  in  July,  1697,  and 
did  not  return  until  the  end  of  February,  1699.  He  took  with 
him  a  numerous  suite — among  them  as  his  secretary  and  treas- 
urer, Alexis  Kurbatof,  who  afterwards  became  distinguished  as 
a  financial  reformer.     Sheremetief  travelled  with  great  state, 


270  PETER   THE   GKEAT. 

and  his  whole  journey  cost  him  the  sum  of  20,550  rubles, 
equivalent  then  to  about  $42,500,  fully  ten  or  twelve  times  the 
Balary  usually  received  by  the  ambassadors.  He  was  received 
with  greal  ceremony  and  honour  by  the  rulers  of  the  coun- 
tries he  visited,  was  feasted  and  entertained  by  the  nobles  of 
Venice,  Rome,  and  Naples,  all  of  which  cities  were  then  in  the 
height  of  their  social  splendour;  wras  courted  by  the  Jesuits, 
who  hoped  to  convert  him,  and  through  him  to  unite  the 
Russian  with  the  Catholic  Church;  he  was  made  a  Knight  of 
Malta,  and  was  the  first  Russian  who  ever  received  a  foreign 
decoration. 

In  general,  the  diplomatists  were  very  badly  paid.  They  were 
usually  given  twice  the  salary  which  they  received  from  their 
official  positions  at  home,  in  addition  to  presents  of  furs  and 
provisions,  and  on  their  return  usually  further  presents  of  furs. 
Only  a  small  portion  of  their  salary  was  paid  in  advance,  and 
that  chiefly  in  furs,  which  they  had  to  sell  at  their  post  of  duty 
in  order  to  raise  money.  It  was  difficult  for  them  to  draw  either 
on  the  Government  or  on  their  private  property,  as  the  com- 
mercial relations  of  Russia  with  foreign  countries  were  at  that 
time  such  that  bills  of  exchange  on  Amsterdam  were  the  only 
means  of  sending  money  abroad.  They  were  therefore  obliged 
to  travel  chiefly  at  their  own  expense,  and  frequently  had  great 
difficulty  in  getting  paid  when  they  came  home.  General  Gor- 
don was  obliged  to  wait  years  for  the  payment  of  his  expenses 
when  on  a  special  mission  to  England.  The  burden  thus  laid 
on  diplomatists  was  not  inconsiderable.  Their  suites  were  great. 
Likhatchef,  for  example,  had  twenty-eight  persons  with  him ; 
and  the  attendants  of  Tchemodanof  were  so  numerous  that  he 
was  obliged  to  charter  two  vessels  from  Archangel,  as  they  could 
not  all  be  accommodated  on  one.  They  were  enjoined  also  to 
give  proper  presents  in  the  proper  places,  and  always  strictly  to 
pay  their  debts,  that  dishonour  might  not  accrue  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. The  manner  of  payment  by  furs  and  other  articles 
of  commerce,  which  they  were  obliged  to  sell  in  order  to  raise 
money,  gave  them  sometimes  more  the  air  of  commercial  trav- 
ellers and  merchants  than  of  ambassadors,  and  as  they  were 
naturally  desirous  of  getting  these  wares — which  were  money 
to  them — through  the  custom-houses  free  of  duty,  disputes  with 


DIFFICULTIES   OF   TRAVEL.  271 

foreign  Governments,  as  we  have  seen,1  were  not  nnfrequently 
brought  about.  Besides  this,  too,  they  were  sometimes  com- 
missioned to  make  sales  of  articles  abroad  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Government.  Thus  Tchemodanof  took  to  Italy,  on  behalf  of 
the  Government,  3,600  pounds  of  rhubarb,  worth,  according  to 
Russian  calculations,  5,000  rubles,  and  sables  to  the  amount  of 
1,000  rubles.  The  speculation  was  unsuccessful.  No  pur- 
chasers could  be  found  for  the  rhubarb,  because  it  had  been  in- 
jured at  sea,  and  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of  its  transport  over 
the  Apennines,  Tchemodanof  was  obliged  to  leave  Leghorn. 
But  few  of  the  sables  were  sold,  and  these  at  very  low  prices. 

In  some  cases  the  Government  assisted  its  envoys  by  lend- 
ing them  embroidered  robes  of  state,  jewels,  plate,  and  horse- 
trappings,  which  had  to  be  exactly  accounted  for,  and  given 
back  to  the  Treasury  on  their  return. 

Kot  the  least  interesting  information  contained  in  the  re- 
ports of  the  Russian  diplomatists  is  that  concerning  the  difficul- 
ties of  travel  in  those  days.  Journeys  by  water  were  always 
easier  and  cheaper  than  those  by  land,  and  the  embassies  sent 
to  England,  Holland,  France,  or  Italy  usually  went  by  sea  from 
Archangel,  although  in  so  doing  they  were  obliged  to  spend 
much  time,  and  in  the  Mediterranean  to  expose  themselves  to 
imminent  danger  of  capture  by  Turkish  and  Barbary  pirates. 
The  voyages  of  Likatchef  and  Tchemodanof  from  Archangel  to 
Leghorn  occupied  between  four  and  five  months,  and  besides 
the  pirates,  they  encountered  icebergs  and  severe  tempests. 
As  to  land  travel,  the  journey  through  Turkey  was  too  danger- 
ous and  difficult  to  be  for  a  moment  considered.  In  Poland, 
the  hostile  attitude  of  the  magnates  was  such,  especially  during 
the  constant  intestine  difficulties,  that  it  was  generally  desirable 
to  avoid  that  country,  and  there  were  often  reasons  for  not  pass- 
ing through  the  territory  of  Riga.  In  travelling  by  land,  too, 
there  were  frequent  delays  arising  from  difficulties  of  obtaining 
horses,  and  the  bad  manner  in  which  Russian  carriages  were 
constructed.  Sheremetief,  who  took  five  months  and  a  half 
for  his  journey  from  Moscow  to  Cracow,  travelled,  as  long  as 
he  was  on  Russian  soil,  with  his  own  horses.     After  crossing 

1  See  page  146. 


272  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

the  frontier,  he  hired  them,  lie  frequently  made  only  five  or 
Bis  miles  a  day.  Even  outside  of  Bussia,  a  journey  by  land 
was  necessarily  slow.  Sherenietief  took  a  whole  month  to  go 
from  Vienna  to  Venice,  and  sixteen  days  for  his  return. 
Tchemodanof  was  eight  weeks  in  going  from  Venice  to  Am- 
sterdam, and  Likatchef  live  and  a  half  weeks  from  Florence  to 
Amsterdam. 

Even  in  England,  the  roads  were  so  bad  that  in  1703  the 
Spanish  Pretender  Charles  111.  (VI.)  was  fourteen  hours  in 
driving  from  London  to  "Windsor,  although  he  stopped  only 
when  the  carriage  was  overturned  or  stuck  in  the  mud.  There 
were  great  difficulties  in  crossing  the  mountains,  whether  in 
Switzerland  or  between  Vienna  and  Venice.  Sherenietief  was 
put  to  much  trouble  and  expense  by  the  snow  near  Pontebba, 
on  the  road  from  Tarvis,  and  was  obliged  to  go  for  some  dis- 
tance on  foot.  Likatchef  was  detained  three  days  by  a  snow- 
storm on  the  St.  Gothard.  Stage-coaches  were  introduced  into 
some  parts  of  Europe,  especially  into  Brandenburg,  where  in 
1G76  a  Frenchman  going  to  Berlin  expressed  his  astonishment 
that  one  could  travel  in  a  coach  by  night.  A  pamphlet  which 
appeared  in  England  in  1673  tried  to  prove  that  stage-coaches 
were  injuring  trade  in  England,  that  fewer  saddles,  boots,  spurs, 
and  pistols  were  bought  than  formerly,  and  that  clothes  were 
not  worn  out  so  fast  since  men  could  keep  dry  by  sitting  in  the 
coaches,  by  which  the  use  of  manufactured  articles  was  limited. 
It  was  alleged  that  travelling  by  stage-coach  produced  effemi- 
nacy, because  people  were  not  exposed  to  the  weather,  and  that 
travelling  by  night  was  very  unhealthful. 

The  expenses  of  travelling  were  sometimes  very  great,  even 
for  a  small  party.  Likatchef  paid  for  four  carriages,  a  bag- 
gage-wagon and  four  riding-horses,  to  go  from  Bologna  to 
Modena,  a  distance  of  about  twenty -four  miles,  the  sum  of  154 
thalers,  a  great  amount  in  those  days. 

In  the  larger  towns,  there  were  sometimes  good  inns. 
Sherenietief  put  up  at  the  '  Golden  Bull '  at  Vienna,  and  at  an 
inn  in  Xaples.  Montaigne,  we  all  remember,  when  in  Borne 
lodged  at  the  Albergo  dell'  Orso,  which  he  found  too  expensive 
for  him.  The  account  given  by  the  President  des  Brasses,  in 
1730,  of  the  inns  in  the  Italian  towns,   especially  in  liome, 


ACCOMMODATIONS.  273 

shows  that  they  were  not  particularly  comfortable.  In  the 
smaller  towns  and  villages,  the  inns  scarcely  provided  more 
than  shelter  for  the  horses,  and  travellers  were  obliged  to  take 
lodgings  in  some  private  house.  The  Russian  diplomatists 
usually  had  recourse  first  to  the  merchants  at  Archangel,  and 
then  to  the  Dutch  merchants  in  Amsterdam  who  had  relations 
with  Russia,  and  from  them  received  information  as  to  their 
road — for  they  knew  almost  nothing  of  geography — and  letters 
to  correspondents  in  different  towns  who  obtained  for  them  ac- 
commodation. On  reaching  their  destination,  they  usually  had 
accommodation  provided  for  them  by  the  Government  to  which 
they  were  accredited.  This  sometimes  happened  in  other 
places.  Zheliabuzhky  was  lodged  in  Massa  at  the  Ducal  cas- 
tle, and  in  Trent  Tchemodanof  was  entertained  by  the  arch- 
bishop. Both  at  Rome  and  at  Vienna,  Sheremetief  was  able 
to  hire  large  furnished  apartments  in  palaces.1 

1  Bruckner,  Culturhistorische  Studien  ;  Kotoshikhin,  Russia,  in  the  Reign  of 
Alexis  (Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  1856  ;  Diplomatic  Monuments  (Russian),  vol. 
x.,  St.  Petersburg,  1831;  Documents  Relating  to  Russia  from  the  Florentine 
Archives  (Russian  and  Italian),  Moscow,  1871  ;  Old  Hussion  Travellers  in 
Sakharof's  Account  of  the  Russian  People  (Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  1841  ; 
Sheremetief.  Journal  du  Voyage,  Paris,  1858. 

Vol.  I.— 18 


XXIX. 


THE  JOURNEY   OF   PETER    TO   WESTERN   EUROPE. 

The  Tsar's  feeling  was  so  strong  with  regard  to  what  might 
be  learnt  about  ship-bnilcling  in  foreign  countries  that,  after  he 

had  sent  off  many  of  his 
subjects  to  study  the  trade, 
he  resolved  to  go  himself. 
Without  ascribing  to  this 
journey  all  the  importance 
which  Macaulay  gave  to  it 
when  he  said,  '  His  journey 
is  an  epoch  in  the  history, 
not  only  of  his  own  coun- 
try, but  of  ours,  and  of  the 
world,'  we  must  admit  that 
it  was  a  remarkable  event, 
and  one  fraught  with  much 
consequence.  Since  the 
exiled  Izyaslav  visited  the 
court  of  the  Emperor  Hen- 
ry IV.,  at  Mainz,  in  1075, 
no  Russian  ruler  had  ever 
been  out  of  his  dominions. 
Peter's  journey  marks  the 
division  between  the  old 
Russia,  an  exclusive,  little  known  country,  and  the  new  Russia. 
an  important  factor  in  European  politics.  It  was  also  one  of  the 
turning  points  in  the  development  of  his  character,  and  Mas  the 
continuation  of  the  education  begun  in  the  German  suburb.  In 
one  way,  it  may  be  said  that  Peter's  appearance  in  the  German 
suburb  was  really  mure  startling,  and  of  more  importance,  than 


Peter  in  the    Dress  of  Western   Europe. 


1697.]  REASONS   FOR   THE  JOURNEY.  275 

his  journey  westward,  for  that  journey  was  the  natural  conse- 
quence and  culmination  of  his  intercourse  with  foreigners  at 
Moscow. 

This  sudden  and  mysterious  journey  of  the  Tsar  abroad  ex- 
ercised the  minds  of  Peter's  contemporaries  no  less  than  it  has 
those  of  moderns.  Many  were  the  reasons  which  were  ascribed 
then,  and  have  been  given  since,  for  this  step.  There  was 
even  a  dispute  among  the  students  of  the  University  of  Thorn 
as  to  the  motives  which  had  induced  the  Tsar  to  travel.  Pleyer, 
the  secret  Austrian  agent,  wrote  to  the  Emperor  Leopold  that 
the  whole  embassy  was  '  merely  a  cloak  for  the  freedom  sought 
by  the  Tsar,  to  get  out  of  his  own  country  and  divert  himself 
a  little.'  Another  document  in  the  archives  at  Vienna  finds 
the  cause  of  the  journey  in  a  vow  made  by  Peter,  when  in  dan- 
ger on  the  White  Sea,  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  the  tombs  of 
the  Apostles  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  at  Pome.  According  to 
Voltaire,  '  He  resolved  to  absent  himself  for  some  years  from 
his  dominions,  in  order  to  learn  how  better  to  govern  them.' 
Xapoleon  said :  '  He  left  his  country  to  deliver  himself  for  a 
while  from  the  crown,  so  as  to  learn  ordinary  life,  and  to  re- 
mount by  degrees  to  greatness.'  But  every  authentic  source  * 
gives  us  but  one  reason,  and  the  same.  Peter  went  abroad, 
not  to  fulfil  a  vow,  not  to  amuse  himself,  not  to  become  more 
civilised,  not  to  learn  the  art  of  government,  but  simply  to  be- 
come a  good  shipwright.  His  mind  was  filled  with  the  idea 
of  creating  a  navy  on  the  Black  Sea  for  use  against  the  Turks, 
and  his  tastes  were  still,  as  they  had  always  been,  purely  me- 
chanical. For  this  purpose,  as  he  himself  says,  and  as  his  pro- 
longed residence  in  Holland  shows,  he  desired  to  have  an  op- 
portunity of  studying  the  art  of  ship-building  in  those  places 
where  it  was  carried  to  the  highest  oerfection,  that  is,  in  Hol- 
land, England,  and  Venice. 

In  order  to  give  the  Tsar  greater  freedom  of  action,  and  to 
save  him  from  too  much  formality  and  ceremony,  which  he  • 
exceedingly  disliked,  an  attempt  was  made  to  conceal  the  pur- 
pose of  his  journey  by  means  of  a  great  embassy,  which  should 
visit  the  chief  countries  of  Western  Europe,  to  explain  the 
policy  of  Russia  toward  Turkey,  and  to  make  whatever  treaties 
it  was  found  possible,  either  for  commercial  purposes  or  for  the 


276  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

war  against  the  Turks.  The  embassy  consisted  of  three  extra- 
ordinary ambassadors,  at  the  head  of  whom  was  General  Lefort. 
Besides  the  other  rewards  he  had  received  for  the  campaigns 
againsl  A^of,  he  had  been  given  the  honorary  title  of  Governor- 
General  of  Novgorod.  The  other  ambassadors  were  the  Gov- 
ernor-General of  Siberia,  Theodore  Golovin,  who  had  already 
distinv.ni.-hed  himself  by  the  treaty  of  ]Sertclimsk  with  the 
Chinese:  and  the  Governor  of  Bolkhof,  Prokop  Voznitsyn,  a 
skilful  and  experienced  diplomatist.  In  the  suite  of  the  ambas- 
sadors were  twenty  nobles  and  thirty-five  others,  called  volun- 
teers, who,  like  those  previously  sent,  were  going  abroad  for 
the  study  of  ship-building.  Among  these  was  the  Tsar  him- 
self. These  volunteers  were  chiefly  young  men  who  had  been 
comrades  of  Peter  in  his  play  regiments,  in  his  boat-building, 
and  in  his  campaigns  against  Azof.  Among  them  may  be  par- 
ticularly remarked  Alexander  Menshikof  and  Alexis  Golitsyn, 
two  Golovins,  Simeon  Naryshkin,  and  the  Prince  Alexander 
Bagration  of  Imeritia.  Including  priests,  interpreters,  pages, 
singers,  and  servants  of  various  kinds,  the  suite  of  the  embassy 
numbered  as  many  as  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  The 
Tsar  himself  travelled  under  the  strictest  incognito.  It  was 
forbidden  to  give  him  the  title  of  Majesty — he  was  always  to 
be  addressed  simply  as  3£i/h  Her  Peter  Mikhailof — and  it  was 
forbidden,  under  pain  of  death,  to  mention  his  presence  with 
the  embassy. 

During  the  absence  of  the  Tsar,  the  government  was  en- 
trusted to  a  regency  of  three  persons — Leo  Naryshkin,  Prince 
Boris  Golitsyn.  and  Prince  Peter  Prozorofsky,  who  were  given 
supreme  power.  Prince  Bamodanofsky  was  charged  with 
maintaining  order  in  Moscow,  and  he  had  verbal  instructions 
to  follow  np,  in  the  severest  way,  the  slightest  movement  of 
discontent  or  rebellion.  The  boyar  Shei'n,  assisted  by  General 
Gordon,  had  charge  of  the  defence  of  the  southern  frontier  on 
the  side  of  Azof,  while  Prince  Jacob  Dolgoriiky  succeeded  the 
boyar  Sheremetief  in  charge  of  the  defences  against  the  Tartars 
on  the  frontier  of  Little  Russia,  and  was  ordered  to  get  galleys 
ready  for  the  siege  of  Otchakdf  in  the  spring  of  1GDS.  Shere- 
metief, who  had  already  served  two  years  in  that  countiy,  ob- 
tained leave  of  absence  and  permission  to  travel  abroad. 


1697.]  A   PLOT   DISCOVERED.  277 

Preparations  were  nearly  finished  for  the  departure  of  the 
embassy,  when  an  unexpected  delay  occurred.  Gordon  ex- 
pressed it  thus  in  his  diary :  '  A  merry  night  has  been  spoiled 
by  an  accident  of  discovering  treason  against  his  Majesty.' 
The  Colonel  of  the  Streltsi,  Ivan  Zickler,  of  foreign  birth  or 
extraction,  and  two  Russian  nobles  of  high  rank,  Alexis  Sokov- 
nin  and  Theodore  Pushkin,  were  accused  of  plotting  against 
the  life  of  the  Tsar.  They  were  accused  on  the  testimony  of 
Larion  Yelisarof,  who  was  one  of  the  denunciators  of  the  alleged 
plot  against  Peter's  life  in  1689,  when  he  took  refuge  at  Troitsa. 
In  all  probability  there  was  no  plot  whatever,  but  simply  loose 
and  unguarded  talk  between  discontented  men.  Zickler  had 
always  been  well  treated  by  the  Princess  Sophia  and  Shaklo- 
vity,  but  when  he  saw  the  preponderance  on  the  side  of  Peter 
he  went  to  Troitsa  and  made  denunciations.  lie  did  not,  how- 
ever, receive  the  reward  and  favour  which  he  expected,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  was  looked  upon  askance,  and  had  recently 
been  sent  to  Azof,  He  was  naturally  irritated  against  the  Tsar, 
and  in  unguarded  moments  probably  expressed  his  feelings  too 
strongly.  Sokovnin  was  a  virulent  dissenter,  and  the  brother 
of  two  ladies  well  known  for  their  opposition  to  the  Patriarch 
Nikon,  and  their  encouragement  of  dissent  in  the  reign  of 
Alexis — Theodora  Morozof  and  the  Princess  Avdotia  Uriisof. 
He  was  therefore  opposed  to  many  of  Peter's  innovations  ;  and 
his  father-in-law,  Matthew  Pushkin,  who  had  been  appointed 
Governor  of  Azof,  had  excited  the  anger  of  the  Tsar  because 
he  had  refused  to  send  his  children  abroad.  Theodore  Pushkin 
was  one  of  the  sons,  and  had  uttered  vague  threats  of  revenge 
in  case  the  Tsar  should  have  his  father  whipped  to  death  for 
his  refusal,  for  rumours  to  that  effect  were  being  industriously 
circulated.  Torture  produced  confessions  of  various  kinds, 
and  among  them  repetitions  by  Zickler  of  the  old  accusations 
against  the  Princess  Sophia.  The  prisoners  were  speedily  con- 
demned, and  were  beheaded  on  the  Red  Place,  after  having 
their  arms  and  legs  chopped  off.  Their  heads  were  exposed  on 
stakes.  The  confessions  of  Zickler,  and  the  renewed  accusa- 
tions against  his  sister  Sophia,  excited  Peter's  mind  against  the 
whole  of  the  Miloslavsky  family,  and  in  his  rage  he  even  went 
to  the  length  of  taking  up  the  body  of  Ivan  Miloslavsky — who 


278  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

had  been  dead  fourteen  years — of  dragging  the  coffin  by  swine 
to  the  place  of  execution,  and  of  placing  it  in  such  a  position 
that  the  blood  of  the  criminals  spurted  into  the  face  of  the 
corpse. 

Even  at  this  time  there  was  much  popular  discontent  and 
hostile  criticism  of  Peter.  !Not  all  of  those  who  saw  that  re- 
forms were  absolutely  necessary  approved  his  measures  and  his 
conduct.  A  rumour  was  spread  that  the  Tsar  Ivan  had  publicly 
proclaimed  to  all  the  people  :  '  My  brother  does  not  live  accord- 
ing to  the  Church.  He  goes  to  the  German  suburb,  and  is 
acquainted  with  Germans.'  There  was  talk,  too,  of  the  way  in 
which  Peter  had  abandoned  his  wife  and  family,  and  family 
affairs  probably  caused  the  quarrel  between  Leo  Xaryshkin  and 
the  Lopukhins,  the  relatives  of  Peter's  wife.  What  exactly 
happened  is  not  known,  but  Peter  Lopiikhin,  the  uncle  of  the 
Tsaritsa  and  the  Minister  of  the  Palace,  was  accused  of  bri- 
bery and  extortion,  and  for  this,  or  some  other  cause,  was  ex- 
iled, together  with  his  brothers,  one  of  them  the  father  of 
the  Tsaritsa.  A  report  was  circulated  among  the  common  peo- 
ple, and  was  widely  believed,  that  Peter  had  assisted  with  his 
own  hands  in  applying  the  torture  to  his  wife's  uncle.  One 
man,  the  monk  Abraham,  dared  to  make  himself  the  exponent 
of  the  popular  feeling,  and  presented  to  Peter  a  petition  in 
which  he  made  mention  of  the  abandonment  of  his  wife,  of 
the  relations  which  he  had  formed  in  the  German  suburb,  and 
of  the  bad  feeling  which  had  been  excited  by  the  Tsar  lower- 
ing himself  to  work  at  boats,  and  to  appear  on  foot  in  the  tri- 
umphal procession,  instead  of  taking  his  proper  place.  As  was 
natural,  the  petition  gave  rise  to  a  trial ;  Abraham  was  sent 
to  a  distant  monastery,  and  three  other  men  who  were  impli- 
cated were  punished  with  the  knout,  and  sent  to  Azof. 

AVhen  these  trials  were  completed,  the  embassy  set  out,  on 
March  20,  1697.  It  was  intended  to  go  first  to  Yienna,  then 
to  Venice  and  Pome,  then  to  Holland  and  England,  and  to 
return  by  the  way  of  Konigsberg.  The  trouble  in  Poland,  con- 
sequent on  the  interregnum,  made  travelling  through  that 
country  dangerous,  and  the  only  way  in  which  Yienna  could  be 
reached  was  by  a  roundabout  journey  through  Piga,  Konigs- 
berg, and  Dresden.     The  plan  was  therefore  changed. 


1697.]  AT  RIGA.  279 

The  first  experience  of  the  Tsar  in  a  foreign  country  was 
an  unfortunate  one.  The  Governor  of  Pskov,  who  had  been 
ordered  to  make  the  arrangements  for  Peters  journey  through 
Livonia,  had  neglected  to  say  in  his  letter  to  Eric  Dahlberg,  the 
Governor  of  Riga,  how  many  persons  accompanied  the  embassy. 
Dahlberg  replied,  asking  the  number  of  people  he  should  ex- 
pect, and  saying  that,  while  he  would  do  his  best,  he  hoped 
they  would  overlook  some  inconveniences,  as  a  great  famine 
was  unfortunately  reigning  in  the  country.  Major  Glazenap 
was  sent  to  the  frontier  to  escort  the  embassy,  but  Peter  was  so 
impatient,  and  travelled  so  fast,  that  they  arrived  at  the  frontier 
before  the  proper  arrangements  had  been  made  to  receive  them. 
They  therefore  found  no  conveyances,  and  were  obliged  to  go 
on  to  Riga  in  the  carriages  brought  from  Pskov,  and  trust  to 
their  own  provisions.  A  short  distance  from  Riga,  light  car- 
riages and  an  escort  were  waiting  for  them,  and  they  were  cere- 
moniously received  in  the  town  with  a  military  parade,  while 
a  guard  of  fifty  men  was  placed  near  their  lodgings.  The  next 
day  the  ambassadors  sent  two  of  their  nobles  to  thank  the 
governor  for  his  kindness,  and  a  return  visit  was  paid  by  one  of 
his  adjutants.  Immediately  afterward,  Peter  wrote  to  Vinius 
that  they  '  were  received  with  great  honour,  and  with  a  salute 
of  twenty-four  guns,  when  they  entered  and  left  the  fortress.' 
Unfortunately,  the  embassy  was  detained  at  Riga  for  a  whole 
week  by  the  breaking  up  of  the  ice  on  the  Diina,  which  made 
crossing  impossible.  Peter  preserved  his  incognito,  and  went 
out  to  see  the  town.  His  military  curiosity  naturally  led  him 
to  inspect  the  fortifications  and  measure  the  width  and  depth 
of  the  ditches,  when  he  was  somewhat  rudely  ordered  away  by 
the  sentinel.  Discontented  at  this,  a  complaint  was  made,  and 
the  governor  apologised,  assuring  Lefort  that  no  discourtesy 
was  intended.  Lefort  was  satisfied,  and  said  that  the  sentinel 
had  merely  done  his  duty.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Riga 
was  a  frontier  town,  that  Livonia  was  an  outlying  province 
of  Sweden,  and  that  the  embassy  was  not  accredited  to  the 
Swedish  court.  Dahlberg  was  coldly,  formally  polite ;  he  did 
all  that  propriety  demanded,  but  nothing  more.  He  knew 
perfectly  well  that  the  Tsar  was  with  the  embassy,  but  he  re- 
spected his  incognito.     As  the  ambassadors  did  not  pay  him 


280  PETER  TIIE    GREAT. 

a  visit  in  person,  he  did  not  pay  a  personal  visit  to  the  ambas- 
Badors.  Nothing  was  done  in  the  way  of  amusement  or  diver- 
sion Eor  the  Tsar,  besides  the  first  reception.  The  ambassadors 
were  left  to  pay  for  their  lodgings  and  their  provisions,  and  to 
gel  "ii  as  best  they  might.  They  paid  high  prices  for  every- 
thing, but  times  were  hard,  and  the  people  naturally  tried  to 
make  the  most  they  could  out  of  the  distinguished  strangers. 
A>  there  was  nothing  to  bo  seen,  either  in  a  military  or  naval 
way,  as  there  were  no  feasts  or  amusements  of  any  kind  pre- 
pared  for  him,  Peter  became  bored,  especially  as  lie  was  anxious 
to  continue  his  journey.  He  left  the  rest,  ventured  across  the 
river  in  a  small  boat,  and  remained  waiting  two  days  on  the 
other  side.  In  a  letter  to  Vinius,  of  April  18,  he  says:  'Here 
we  lived  in  a  slavish  way,  and  were  tired  with  the  mere  sight 
of  things.'  Nevertheless,  the  embassy  took  its  leave  with  all 
form  and  ceremony,  and  crossed  the  river  on  a  vessel  carrying 
the  royal  flag  of  Sweden,  and  with  a  salute.  When  it  was 
necessary  to  find  a  pretext  for  a  war  with  Sweden,  the  recep- 
tion at  Riga  was  made  one  of  the  reasons,  and  even  in  1709, 
when  the  siege  of  Riga  was  undertaken,  Peter,  after  throwing 
the  first  three  bomb-shells  into  the  town,  wrote  to  Menshikof : 
'  Thus  the  Lord  God  has  enabled  us  to  see  the  beginning  of  our 
revenge  on  this  accursed  place.'  We  should  add  here  that 
Peter's  feelings  about  his  reception  at  Riga  probably  increased 
with  time.  In  other  countries  where  he  went,  there  was  a 
sovereign  with  a  court,  and  although,  in  a  certain  way,  the  Tsar 
was  incognito,  yet  he  was  privately  and  familiarly  received  and 
entertained.  It  was  unfortunate  for  him  that  his  first  venture 
was  in  an  outlying  province,  the  tenure  of  which  was  not  too 
secure,  and  in  a  commercial  rather  than  in  an  aristocratic  city. 

Mitau  is  now  a  dull  provincial  town,  and  the  Hebrew  signs  on 
the  street  corners  show  the  great  Jewish  population.  Its  great- 
est object  of  interest  to  travellers  is  the  old  Ducal  Castle,  almost 
entirely  rebuilt  in  the  last  century,  with  its  reminiscences  of 
the  residence  and  sudden  departure  of  the  exiled  Louis  XVHL, 
and  with  the  mummified  body  of  the  Duke  John  Ernest  Biren 
(the  lover  of  the  Empress  Anne,  and  the  ancestor  of  the  Sagan 
family),  which  lies  in  its  coffin  attired  in  velvet  and  ruffles,  but 
by  some  malice  lacking  the  tip  of  the  nose.    In  1697  Mitau  was 


1697.]  IN   CUBLAND.  2S1 

tlie  capital  of  the  little  Duchy  of  Curland,  which  maintained 
a  semi-independence  by  becoming  a  fief  of  the  Polish  crown. 
The  reigning  Duke,  Frederic  Casimir,  was  an  old  friend  of 
Lefort.  It  was  with  him  that  Lefort  had  served  in  Holland. 
Although  he  was  poor,  he  did  everything  that  he  could  to  make 
the  time  pass  pleasantly  for  Peter  and  for  the  embassy.  Here 
the  Tsar  consented  to  give  up  in  part  his  incognito,  made  visits 
to  the  Duke,  and  received  them  in  return.  A  week  was  quickly 
passed  in  amusement  and  pleasure,  but  even  with  this  Peter 
found  time  to  exercise  himself  in  a  carpenter's  shop. 

From  Mitau  Peter  proceeded  to  Libau,  where  he  was  de- 
tained by  bad  weather  for  a  week,  until  he  finally  took  passage 
on  a  small  ship  going  to  Pillau,  the  port  of  Konigsberg.  Dur- 
ing his  stay  at  Libau,  he  passed  for  the  skipper  of  a  Russian 
privateer,  though  he  was  able  to  give  no  satisfactory  explana- 
tion to  an  acquaintance,  who  frequently  met  and  drank  with 
him  in  a  small  beer-shop,  as  to  why  it  was  a  privateer,  and  not 
a  merchant  vessel  that  lie  commanded.  Besides  the  beer-house, 
Peter  often  visited  an  apothecary's  shop,  and  wrote  to  Vinius 
that  he  had  seen  there  '  a  wonder  which  was  ordinarily  con- 
sidered untrue,  a  real  salamander  preserved  in  spirits  in  a 
bottle,'  which  he  had  taken  out  and  held  in  his  hand.  The 
embassy  proceeded  by  land.  The  Tsar  went  by  sea,  to  avoid 
passing  through  Polish  territory. 

Blomberg,  whom  we  have  already  cited  about  the  election 
of  Patriarch,  met  the  embassy  in  Curland,  and  says  of  their  en- 
tertainment :  '  Open  tables  were  kept  everywhere,  with  trumpets 
and  music,  attended  with  feasting  and  excessive  drinking  all 
along,  as  if  his  Tsarish  Majesty  had  been  another  Bacchus.  I 
have  not  seen  such  hard  drinkers  ;  it  is  not  possible  to  express 
it,  and  they  boast  of  it  as  a  mighty  qualification.'  Of  Lefort's 
drinking  he  remarks  :  '  It  never  overcomes  him,  but  he  always 
continues  master  of  his  reason.'  Leibnitz,  writing  from  private 
information  received  from  Konigsberg,  says  much  the  same 
thing:  '  Lefort  drinks  like  a  hero  ;  no  one  can  rival  him.  It  is 
feared  that  he  will  be  the  death  of  some  of  the  Elector's  courtiers. 
Beginning  in  the  evening,  he  does  not  leave  his  pipe  and  glass 
till  three  hours  after  sunrise,  and  yet  he  is  a  man  of  great  parts.' 

Frederick  III.,  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  then  on  the  eve  of 


282  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

transforming  himself  into  the  first  King  of  Prussia,  was  greatly 
interested  to  know  whether  the  Tsar  was  really  with  the  em- 
bassy, and  beside  sending  a  secret  agent  into  Curland  to  find 
out,  he  gave  directions  about  the  treatment  of  the  embassy,  in 
case  it  were  simply  intending  to  pass  through  his  dominions, 
or  in  case  it  were  directed  also  to  him.  Peter  was  therefore 
met  at  Pillau  by  an  officer  who  proffered  the  hospitality  of  the 
Elector,  but  an  answer  was  returned  that  there  was  no  person 
of  distinction  on  board,  except  the  Prince  of  Imeritia,  and  that 
no  visits  could  be  received.  A  similar  occurrence  took  place  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Pregel,  and  it  was  not  until  Peter  arrived  at 
Ivonigsberg  itself  that  he  was  willing  to  allow  himself  to  be 
known  to  the  Elector.  After  taking  small  lodgings  in  a  street 
on  the  Kneiphof,  he  went  out  in  a  close  carriage,  late  at  night, 
and  paid  a  visit  to  the  Elector,  entering  the  palace  by  a  private 
staircase.  The  interview  lasted  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  the 
sovereigns  were  mutually  pleased.  Although,  in  order  to  keep 
his  incognito,  Peter  refused  to  receive  a  return  visit,  yet  he  saw 
the  Elector  several  times  again,  and  was  entertained  by  him  at  his 
country  house,  witnessed  a  bear-fight,  and  appeared  at  a  hunting 
party.  His  curiosity  and  vivacity,  his  readiness  to  be  pleased,  and 
his  appreciation  of  the  manners  and  habits  of  the  country,  made 
a  favourable  impression.  He  astonished  by  his  natural  capacity 
and  his  dexterity,  even  in  playing  the  trumpet  and  the  drum. 

The  embassy  arrived  eleven  days  after  Peter,  and  was  splen- 
didly received.  Great  advantages  were  expected  to  Branden- 
burg from  an  intimacy  with  Russia,  and  the  Elector,  therefore, 
spared  no  money.  Peter's  visit  is  said  to  have  cost  him  150,000 
thalers.  Under  the  skilful  guidance  of  Lefort  and  Yon  Besser, 
all  ceremonial  observances  were  strictly  complied  with,  and,  for 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Russian  missions  abroad,  there 
was  no  unseemly  wrangling  over  points  of  precedence  and  eti- 
quette. The  members  of  the  embassy  appeared  officially  in 
Russian  costume,  although  they  wore  foreign  dress  in  private. 
The  Elector  told  the  Tsar  afterwards  that  he  had  hard  work  to 
keep  from  laughing,  when,  according  to  custom,  he  had  to  ask 
the  ambassadors  how  the  Tsar  was,  and  whether  they  had  left 
him  in  good  health.  Peter  had  just  before  been  standing  at 
the  window  to  see  the  entry  of  the  embassy,  and  was  well 


1697.]  IN   KONIGSBERG.  283 

satisfied.  At  a  supper  given  in  honour  of  the  ambassadors, 
great  pleasure  was  caused  by  the  fireworks,  one  piece  represent- 
ing the  Russian  arms,  and  another  the  victory  at  Azof. 

The  two  rulers  were  so  well  disposed  towards  each  other, 
that  a  treaty  of  friendship  was  speedily  concluded.  The  Elec- 
tor was  greatly  desirous  that  there  should  be  inserted  an  article 
of  alliance  for  mutual  defence  and  protection  ;  but  the  Russians 
were  too  cautious  for  this,  and  although  the  treaty  contained 
clauses  giving  additional  privileges  to  merchants,  especially  as 
regarded  the  Persian  trade,  and  for  the  surrender  of  criminals 
and  deserters,  yet  the  Elector  had  to  be  satisfied  with  a  verbal 
agreement  and  oath  '  not  to  let  a  favourable  occasion  escape  of 
being  useful  to  each  other  by  giving  each  other  their  mutual 
help,  as  far  as  possible,  against  all  their  enemies,  but  particu- 
larly against  the  Swedes.' 

On  June  20,  after  nearly  a  month's  stay,  Peter  went  to 
Pillau,  with  the  intention  of  taking  ship  directly  to  Holland, 
for  he  found  it  more  convenient  to  defer  his  visit  to  Vienna  till 
his  return.  Before  leaving,  he  sent  a  ruby  of  large  size  as  a 
present  to  his  host.  At  Pillau  he  was  detained  three  weeks 
longer,  by  the  necessity  of  watching  affairs  in  Poland,  where 
the  interregnum  consequent  on  the  death  of  Sobieski  had  pro- 
duced more  than  the  usual  trouble.  The  threatened  interven- 
tion by  the  French,  to  support  the  Prince  de  Conti  on  the 
Polish  throne,  would  have  been  greatly  against  the  interest  of 
Russia.  The  Tsar  occupied  his  leisure  with  active  and  thorough 
studies  in  artillery,  under  the  guidance  of  the  chief  engineer  of 
the  Prussian  fortresses,  Colonel  Steitner  von  Sternfeld,  who 
gave  him  a  certificate  of  remarkable  progress  and  knowledge. 

An  unfortunate  incident,  arising  from  Peter's  hasty  temper, 
marked  the  conclusion  of  his  stay.  He  had  remained  a  day 
longer  to  celebrate  his  name's-day,  and  had  expected  the  Elec- 
tor to  visit  him.  He  had  even  made  some  fireworks  for  the 
occasion.  Frederick  had  been  obliged  to  go  to  Memel,  to  meet 
the  Duke  of  Curland,  and  therefore  sent  Coimt  von  Ivreyzen 
and  the  Landvogt  von  Schacken  to  present  his  compliments  and 
his  regrets.  Peter  was  childishly  vexed,  and  in  his  disappoint- 
ment at  not  being  able  to  show  his  fireworks,  vented  his  rage  on 
the  envoys.    He  took  it  amiss  that  they  had  left  the  room  after 


284  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

dinner  to  'refresh  themselves'  after  their  journey,  and  had  them 
broughl  hack.  Looking  'sourly'  at  Count  von  Kreyzen,  he  re- 
marked in  I  hitch  to  Lefort,  that '  The  Eleetor  was  very  good,  hut 
his  counsellors  were  the  devil.'  Then,  thinking  he  saw  a  smile 
steal  over  the  face  of  Kreyzen,  who  was  ahout  to  retire,  he  rushed 
at  him,  cried,  '  Go!  go ! '  and  twice  pushed  him  backwards.  His 
anger  did  not  cool  until  he  had  written  to  his  '  dearest  friend,' 
the  Elector,  a  letter  half  of  complaint  and  half  of  apology. 

Instead  of  going  by  sea  from  Pillau  to  Holland,  Peter  went 
no  farther  than  Colberg,  as  he  was  fearful  of  falling  in  with 
the  French  squadron,  which  was  said  to  be  escorting  the  Prince 
de  Conti  to  Poland.  From  that  place  he  travelled  hy  land  as 
speedily  as  possible,  stopping  only  to  look  at  the  famous  iron- 
works near  Ilsenburg,  and  to  ascend  the  Erocken  for  the  view. 

The  journey  of  the  Tsar  produced  as  much  commotion  and 
excitement  in  the  minds  of  curious  people  of  that  time  as  did 
those  of  the  Sultan  and  Shah  in  our  own  day.  Among  those 
most  anxious  to  form  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  Tsar 
were  the  philosopher  Leibnitz,  who  had  long  been  interested  in 
Russia,  chiefly  for  philological  reasons,  and  his  friends,  Sophia, 
the  widowed  Electress  of  Hanover,  granddaughter  of  James  I. 
of  England,  and  her  daughter  Sophia  Charlotte,  wife  of  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg.  Sophia  Charlotte  was  on  a  visit  to  her 
mother,  and  had  therefore  missed  the  visit  of  Peter  to  Konigs- 
berg,  though  she  had  had  full  accounts  of  it  from  a  constant 
correspondent.  Leibnitz  was  unable  at  this  time  to  see  the  Tsar, 
but  the  two  Electresses,  attended  by  several  young  princes  and 
members  of  their  court,  made  a  hasty  journey. from  Hanover 
to  Ivoppenbriigge,  through  which  they  found  Peter  was  to  pass. 
They  invited  him  to  sup  with  them,  but  it  took  a  discussion  of 
an  hour  to  persuade  him  to  accept,  and  he  did  so  only  on  the 
assurance  that  he  would  be  received  in  the  simplest  way.  He 
finally  succeeded  in  avoiding  the  curious  eyes  of  the  attendants, 
and  in  getting  into  the  supper-room  by  the  back  staircase. 
After  supper  there  was  a  dance,  and  the  party  did  not  separate 
until  four  in  the  morning.  Perhaps  the  princesses  can  tell 
their  own  story  best.     Sophia  Charlotte  says  in  a  letter : 

•  My  mother  and  I  began  to  pay  him  our  compliments,  but 
he  made  Mr.  Lefort  reply  for  him,  for  he  seemed  shy,  hid  his 


1697.]  THE   ELECTRESS   OF  HANOVER.  285 

t 

face  in  his  hands,  and  said:  "  Ich  Tcarm  nieht  sprechen."    But 

we  tamed  him  a  little,  and  then  lie  sat  down  at  the  table  be- 
tween my  mother  and  myself,  and  each  of  us  talked  to  him  in 
turn,  and  it  was  a  strife  who  should  have  it.  Sometimes  he 
replied  with  the  same  promptitude,  at  others  he  made  two  in- 
terpreters talk,  and  assuredly  he  said  nothing  that  was  not  to 
the  point  on  all  subjects  that  were  suggested,  for  the  vivacity 
of  my  mother  put  to  him  many  questions,  to  which  he  replied 
with  the  same  readiness,  and  I  was  astonished  that  he  was  not 
tired  with  the  conversation,  for  I  have  been  told  that  it  is  not 
much  the  habit  in  his  country.  As  to  his  grimaces,  I  imagined 
them  worse  than  I  found  them,  and  some  are  not  in  his  power 
to  correct.  One  can  see  also  that  he  has  had  no  one  to  teach  . 
him  how  to  eat  properly,  but  he  has  a  natural,  unconstrained 
air  which  pleases  1110.' 

Her  mother  wrote,  a  few  days  afterwards  : 

'  The  Tsar  is  very  tall,  his  features  are  tine,  and  his  figure 
very  noble.  He  has  great  vivacity  of  mind,  and  a  ready  and 
just  repartee.  But,  with  all  the  advantages  with  which  nature 
has  endowed  him,  it  could  be  wished  that  his  manners  were  a  * 
little  less  rustic.  AVe  immediately  sat  down  to  table.  Herr 
Ivoppenstein,  who  did  the  duty  of  marshal,  presented  the  nap- 
kin to  his  Majesty,  who  was  greatly  embarrassed,  for  at  Bran- 
denburg, instead  of  a  table-napkin,  they  had  given  him  an  ewer 
and  basin  after  the  meal.  He  was  very  gay,  very  talkative, 
and  we  established  a  great  friendship  for  each  other,  and  he  ex- 
changed snuff-boxes  with  my  daughter.  We  stayed,  in  truth, 
a  very  long  time  at  table,  but  we  would  gladly  have  remained 
there  longer  still  without  feeling  a  moment  of  enrnd,  for  the 
Tsar  was  in  very  good  humour,  and  never  ceased  talking  to  us. 
My  daughter  had  her  Italians  sing.  Their  song  pleased  him, 
though  he  confessed  to  us  that  he  did  not  care  much  for  music* 

'  I  asked  him  if  he  liked  hunting.  He  replied  that  his  father 
had  been  very  fond  of  it,  but  that  he  himself,  from  his  earliest 
youth,  had  had  a  real  passion  for  navigation  and  for  fireworks. 
He  told  us  that  he  worked  himself  in  building  ships,  showed  us 
his  hands,  and  made  us  touch  the  callous  places  that  had  been 
caused  by  work.  He  brought  his  musicians,  and  they  played  * 
Russian  dances,  which  we  liked  better  than  Polish  ones. 


2S0  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

'Lefort  and  his  nephew  dressed  in  French  style,  and  had 
much  wit.  We  did  not  speak  to  the  other  ambassadors.  We 
regretted  that  we  could  not  stay  longer,  so  that  we  could  see 
him  again,  for  his  society  gave  us  much  pleasure.  lie  is  a  very 
extraordinary  man.  It  is  impossible  to  describe  him,  or  even 
to  give  an  idea  of  him,  unless  you  have  seen  him.  lie  has 
a  very  good  heart,  and  remarkably  noble  sentiments.  I  must  tell 
you,  also,  that  he  did  not  get  drunk  in  our  presence,  but  we  had 
hardly  left  when  the  people  of  his  suite  made  ample  amends.' 

In  another  letter  she  says : — 

'I  could  embellish  the  tale  of  the  journey  of  the  illustrious 
Tsar,  if  I  should  tell  you  that  he  is  sensible  to  the  charms  of 
beauty,  but,  to  come  to  the  bare  fact,  I  found  in  him  no  dispo- 
sition to  gallantry.  If  we  had  not  taken  so  many  steps  to  see 
him,  I  believe  that  he  would  never  have  thought  of  us.  In  his 
country  it  is  the  custom  for  all  women  to  paint,  and  rouge 
forms  an  essential  part  of  their  marriage  presents.  That  is 
why  the  Countess  Platen  singularly  pleased  the  Muscovites ; 
•  but  in  dancing,  they  took  the  whalebones  of  our  corsets  for  our 
bones,  and  the  Tsar  showed  his  astonishment  by  saying  that 
the  German  ladies  had  devilish  hard  bones. 

'  They  have  four  dwarfs.  Two  of  them  are  very  well-pro- 
portioned, and  perfectly  well-bred ;  sometimes  he  kissed,  and 
sometimes  he  pinched  the  ear  of  his  favorite  dwarf.  He  took 
the  head  of  our  little  Princess  (Sophia  Dorothea,  ten  years  old), 
and  kissed  her  twice.  The  ribbons  of  her  hair  suffered  in  con- 
sequence. He  also  kissed  her  brother  (afterwards  George  II.  of 
England,  then  sixteen  years  old).  He  is  a  prince  at  once  very 
good  and  very  mechant.  He  has  quite  the  manners  of  his 
country.  If  he  had  received  a  better  education,  he  would  be 
an  accomplished  man,  for  he  has  many  good  qualities,  and  an 
infinite  amount  of  natural  wit.' ' 

1  Ustrialof,  III.,  i.  ii.  and  appendix;  Solovuf,  xiv.  ;  Posselt,  Lefort ; 
Briickner,  Die  JReise  Peters  des  Grossen  in  Aasland,  in  the  Russische  Heme 
for  1879;  Lamberty,  Memoir  es  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire  du  XVIII.  siecle,  i., 
La  Haye,  1724  ;  Blomberg,  Account  of  Liconia  ;  Erman,  Memoires  pour  servir 
a  Phistoire  de  So]->/iie  Charlotte,  Berlin,  1801  ;  Theiner,  Monuments liistoriquts ; 
V.  Guerrier,  Leibnitz  and  Peter  the  Great  (Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  1871-73; 
F.  Martens,  Recueil  des  Traites  et  Conventions  de  Russie,  V.,  Traites  avec 
VAUemayne,  St.  Petersburg,  1880. 


XXX. 

PETER   IN   HOLLAND. 

A  snoET  sail  from  Amsterdam,  up  the  gulf  of  the  Y,  brings 
the  traveller  to  the  picturesque  little  town  of  Zaandam,  extend- 
ing along  the  banks  of  the  river  Zaan.  From  the  windows 
of  the  coffee-house,  built  on  the  dam  or  dyke  which  connects 
the  two  parts  of  the  town,  one  can  see  on  one  side  the  placid 
pool  of  the  Binnenzaan,  with  gardens  sloping  to  the  shore, 
and  cottages  painted  blue,  green,  and  pink,  half  concealed  in 
the  verdure,  and  on  the  other  the  port  with  its  wharves  and 
ship-yards,  the  many  sails  on  the  Y,  and  the  multitudinous 
windmills,  which  surround  the  town  like  guardian  towers.  At 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Zaandam,  with  the  neigh- 
bouring villages,  was  the  centre  of  a  great  ship-building  busi- 
ness. There  were  not  less  than  fifty  private  wharves  in  Zaan- 
dam, at  which  merchant  vessels  were  constructed,  and  so  great 
was  the  crowd  of  workmen,  and  so  rapid  the  execution,  that  a 
vessel  was  often  ready  to  go  to  sea  in  five  weeks  from  the  time 
the  keel  was  laid.  The  windmills  then,  as  now,  supplied  the 
motive  power  for  sawing  the  necessary  timber.  At  Voronezh, 
at  Archangel,  and  elsewhere,  Peter  had  met  shipwrights  from 
Zaandam,  who  had  praised  so  much  their  native  town,  that  he 
was  convinced  that  only  there  could  he  learn  the  art  of  ship- 
building in  its  perfection.  His  journey  from  Koppenbriigge 
and  down  the  Rhine  had  been  rapid,  and  passing  through  Am- 
sterdam without  halting,  the  Tsar  reached  Zaandam  early  on 
the  morning  of  August  18,  having  with  him  only  six  volunteers, 
including  the  Prince  of  Imeritia  and  the  two  brothers  Men- 
shikof.  On  the  way  he  saw  an  old  Moscow  acquaintance,  the 
smith  Gerrit  Kist,  fishing  in  the  river.  He  hailed  him,  and  told 
him  for  what  purpose  he  had  come  to  Zaandam.     Binding  him 


288 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


to  absolute  secresy,  tbe  Tsar  insisted  on  taking  np  bis  quarters 
in  bis  bouse;  but  it  was  necessary  rirst  to  persuade  tbe  woman 
who  already  lodged  in  tbis  small  wooden  but  to  vacate  it,  and 
then  to  prepare  it  a  little  for  tbe  illustrious  guest.  Peter  there- 
fore took  refuge  in  tbe  '  Otter'  Inn,  for  it  was  Sunday,  and  tbe 
streets  were  thronged  with  people,  and  although  he  was  in  a 
workman's  dress,  with  a  tarpaulin  hat,  yet  the  Russian  dress  of 
bis  comrades  excited  tbe  curiosity  of  the  crowd.    The  next  day, 


Peter  at  Work  at  Zaandam. 


he  entered  himself  as  a  ship-carpenter  at  the  wharf  of  Lynst 
Rogge,  on  tbe  Buitenzaan. 

Peter's  stay  in  Zaandam  lasted  a  week  only,  and  as,  during 
tbis  time,  be  visited  nearly  all  the  mills  and  factories  in  the 
neighbourhood,  at  one  of  which  he  made  a  sheet  of  paper 
with  his  own  hands,  and  as  the  next  day  after  his  arrival  he 
bought  a  row-boat,  and  passed  much  of  his  time  on  the  water, 
supped,  dined,  and  talked  familiarly  with  the  families  and  re- 
lations of  men  whom  he  had  known  in  Russia,  he  could  not 
have  done  much  work.  The  popular  curiosity  proved  too  an- 
noying for  him.  There  were  rumours  that  the  Tsar  was  in  the 
town.  These  rumours  brought  large  and  inquisitive  crowds  from 
Amsterdam.     Finally,  one  day  when  Peter  bad  bought  a  hatful 


1697.]  AT   Z  A  AND  AM.  289 

of  plums,  and  was  eating  them  as  he  walked  along  the  street, 
he  met  a  crowd  of  boys,  with  some  of  whom  he  shared  his  fruit. 
Those  to  whom  he  had  refused  to  give  began  to  follow  him,  and, 
when  lie  laughed  at  them,  to  throw  mud  and  stones.  Peter  was 
obliged  to  take  refuge  in  the  '  Three  Swans '  Inn,  and  send  for 
the  Burgomaster.  He  had  to  make  some  sort  of  explanation  to 
the  Burgomaster,  and  an  edict  was  immediately  issued,  forbid- 
ding insults  to  '  distinguished  personages  who  wished  to  remain 
unknown.'  One  man,  too,  had  received  a  letter  from  his  son  in 
Moscow,  speaking  of  the  great  embassy,  and  saying  that  the 
Tsar  was  with  it,  and  would  in  all  probability  visit  Zaandam. 
The  Tsar,  it  was  said,  could  easily  be  recognized  by  his  great 
height — nearly  seven  feet — by  the  twitching  of  his  face,  by  his 
gesturing  with  his  right  hand,  and  by  a  small  mole  on  the  right 
cheek.  This  letter  was  seen  by  the  barber  Pomp.  When,  soon 
after,  the  Muscovites  came  into  his  shop,  he  immediately  recog- 
nised Peter  as  answering  to  this  description,  and  at  once  circu- 
lated the  news.  When  Peter  sailed  on  the  Zaan  in  the  new 
yacht  which  he  had  bought,  and  to  which  he  had  himself  fitted 
a  bowsprit,  he  was  followed  by  crowds  of  curious  people.  This 
put  him  out  of  patience,  and  leaping  ashore,  he  gave  one  of 
them  a  cuff  on  the  cheek,  to  the  delight  of  all  the  spectators, 
who  called  out :  '  Bravo  !  Marsje,  you  are  made  a  knight.'  The 
angry  Tsar  shut  himself  up  in  an  inn,  and  could  only  return 
late  at  night.  The  next  day,  Saturday,  had  been  appointed  for 
drawing  a  large  ship  built  by  Cornelius  Calf  across  the  dyke, 
from  the  Binnenzaan  to  the  Vorzaan,  by  means  of  rollers  and 
capstans,-  a  difficult  and  even  critical  operation.  Peter,  who  was 
greatly  interested,  had  promised  to  come,  and  a  place  had  been 
set  apart  for  him.  The  news  of  his  expected  presence  having 
spread,  the  crowd  was  so  enormous  that  the  guards  were  driven 
back,  the  palisade  broken  down,  and  the  reserved  space  en- 
croached upon.  Seeing  the  crowd,  Peter  refused  to  leave  his 
house,  and  although  the  Schout,  the  Burgomasters,  and  the 
other  authorities  came  in  person  to  him,  they  got  nothing  more 
than  '  StraJcSy  straks '  (immediately),  and  finally,  when  he  had 
stuck  his  head  out  of  the  door  and  seen  the  crowd,  a  blunt  re- 
fusal :  '  Te  veel  volls,  te  veel  volks '  (too  many  people).  Sunday, 
it  seemed  as  if  all  Amsterdam  had  come  for  a  sight  of  him,  and 
Vol.  I.— 19 


290 


PETEB   THE    GBEAT. 


Peter,  as  a  last  resource,  managed  to  get  to  his  yacht,  and  al- 
though a  severe  storm  was  blowing,  and  every  one  advised  him 
not  to  risk  it,  he  sailed  off,  and  three  hours  later  arrived  at  Am- 
sterdam, where  his  ambassadors  were  to  have  a  formal  reception 
the  next  day.  With  some  difficulty  he  made  his  way  to  the 
On,/,  ziAds  II, ,  ren  logement,  where  they  were  living. 

After  the  ambassadors  had  been  received,  Peter,  in  com- 


Sham- Fight  on  the  Y. 

pany  with  them,  visited  the  town  hall  (now  the  Royal  Palace), 
considered  by  all  good  burghers  of  Amsterdam  as  a  chef- 
cPasuvre  of  architecture,  inspected  the  docks  and  the  admiralty, 
went  to  a  special  representation  of  a  comedy  and  ballet,  took 
part  in  a  great  dinner,  saw  a  splendid  display  of  fireworks  on 
the  Amstel,  and,  what  interested  him  most  of  all,  witnessed  a 
grand  naval  sham-fight  on  the  Y,  which  lasted  for  a  whole  day, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Vice- Admiral  Giles  Scheij. 


PETER'S   H03IE  AT   ZAANDAM. 


1C97.]  AT  AMSTERDAM.  291 

The  house  in  which  Peter  lived  at  Zaandam  lias  been  a 
place  of  pilgrimage  for  a  century,  beginning  with  a  royal  party, 
which  included  the  Emperor  Joseph  II.,  Gustavus  III.,  King  of 
Sweden,  and  the  Grand  Duke  of  Russia  (afterward  the  Em- 
peror Paul),  then  travelling  as  the  Comte  du  JSord.  Even  Na- 
poleon visited  it.  Bought  in  1818  by  a  Russian  princess,  at 
that  time  Queen  of  Holland,  it  is  now  preserved  with  great 
care  inside  a  new  building.  In  itself  it  is  no  more  worth  visit- 
ing than  any  other  house  where  Peter  may  have. been  forced  to 
spend  a  week.  It  is  only  of  interest  as  being  the  spot  where 
the  ruler  of  a  great  country  sought  to  gain  knowledge  of  an  art 
which  amused  him,  and  which  he  thought  would  be  beneficial 
to  his  people.  His  real  life  as  a  workman  was  all  in  Amster- 
dam. 

During  the  festivities  Peter  asked  the  Burgomaster  Wit  sen, 
whose  personal  acquaintance  he  had  at  last  made,  whether  it 
would  not  be  possible  for  him  to  work  at  the  docks  of  the  East 
India  Company,  where  he  could  be  free  from  the  public  curi- 
osity which  so  troubled  him  at  Zaandam.  The  next  day,  at  a 
meeting  of  the  directors  of  the  East  India  Company,  it  was  re- 
solved to  allow  '  a  high  personage,  present  here  incognito,'  to 
work  at  the  wharf,  to  assign  him  a  house  in  which  he  could 
live  undisturbed  within  the  precincts,  and  that,  as  a  mark  of 
their  respect,  they  would  proceed  to  the  construction  of  a  frig- 
ate, in  order  that  he  might  see  the  building  of  a  ship  from  the 
beginning.  This  frigate  was  to  be  one  hundred  or  one  hundred 
and  thirty  feet  long,  according  to  the  wish  of  the  Tsar,  though 
the  Company  preferred  the  length  of  one  hundred  feet.  The 
Tsar  was  at  the  dinner  of  state  given  to  the  embassy  by  the 
city  of  Amsterdam,  when  he  received  a  copy  of  this  resolution. 
He  wished  to  set  to  work  immediately,  and  was  with  difficulty 
persuaded  to  wait  for  the  fireworks  and  the  triumphal  arch  pre- 
pared in  his  honour ;  but  as  soon  as  the  last  fires  had  burnt  out, 
in  spite  of  all  entreaties,  he  set  out  for  Zaandam  on  his  yacht 
in  order  to  fetch  his  tools.  He  returned  early  the  next  morn- 
ing, August  30,  and  went  straight  to  the  wharf  of  the  East 
India  Company,  at  Oostenburg. 

For  more  than  four  months,  with  occasional  absences,  he 
worked  here  at  ship-building,  under  the  direction  of  the  Baas 


292  TETER  THE   GREAT. 

(in  rit  Claes  Pool.  Ten  of  the  Russian  'volunteers'  set  to 
work  at  the  wharf  with  him.  The  rest  were  sent  to  other  es- 
tablishments to  learn  the  construction  of  masts,  boats,  sails, 
and  blocks,  while  Prince  Alexander  of  Imeritia  went  to  the 
I  [ague  to  study  artillery,  and  a  certain  number  of  others  were 
entered  as  sailors  before  the  mast.  The  first  three  weeks  were 
taken  u}>  with  the  preparations  of  materials.  On  September 
L9,  Peter  laid  the  keel  of  the  new  frigate,  one  hundred  feet  in 
length,  to  be  called  '  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,'  and  on  the 
next  day  wrote  to  the  Patriarch  at  Moscow  as  follows : 

'  We  are  in  the  Netherlands,  in  the  town  of  Amsterdam, 
and  by  the  mercy  of  God,  and  by  your  prayers,  are  alive  and 
in  good  health,  and,  following  the  divine  command  given  to 
our  forefather  Adam,  we  are  hard  at  work.  What  we  do  is 
not  from  any  need,  but  for  the  sake  of  learning  navigation,  so 
that,  having  mastered  it  thoroughly,  we  can,  when  we  return, 
be  victors  over  the  enemies  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  liberators  of 
the  Christians  who  live  under  them,  which  I  shall  not  cease  to 
wish  for  until  my  latest  breath.' 

Peter  allowed  no  difference  to  be  made  between  himself  and 
the  other  workmen,  and  it  is  said  that,  when  the  Earl  of  Port- 
land and  another  nobleman  came  from  the  king's  chateau  at  Loo 
to  have  a  sight  of  him,  the  overseer,  in  order  to  point  him  out, 
said :  '  Carpenter  Peter  of  Zaandam,  why  don't  you  help  your 
comrades  ? '  and  Peter,  without  a  word,  placed  his  shoulder 
under  the  timber  which  several  men  were  carrying,  and  helped 
to  raise  it  to  its  place.  In  the  moments  of  rest,  the  Tsar,  sit- 
ting down  on  a  log,  with  his  hatchet  between  his  knees,  was 
willing  to  talk  to  anyone  who  addressed  him  simply  as  Carpen- 
ter Peter,  or  Baas  Peter,  but  turned  away  and  did  not  answer 
those  who  called  him  Sire  or  Your  Majesty.  He  never  liked 
long  conversations. 

When  Peter  came  home  from  the  wharf,  lie  devoted  much 
of  his  time  to  learning  the  theory  of  ship-building,  for  which 
he  had  to  make  additional  studies  in  geometry.  His  note- 
books, which  have  been  carefully  preserved,  show  the  thor- 
oughness with  which  he  worked.  But,  besides  that,  he  had 
many  letters  to  answer,  and  now  that  he  was  away  from  home 
he  took  more  interest  in  at  least  the  foreign  policy  of  his  Gov- 


1697.]  WORK   AT   AMSTERDAM.  293 

eminent.  Every  post  from  Moscow  brought  him  a  package  of 
letters,  some  asking  questions  and  favours — for,  in  spite  of  the 
Supreme  Regency,  many  matters  were  still  referred  to  him — 
some  giving  him  news,  and  others  containing  nothing  but  good 
wishes  or  friendly  talk  about  social  matters.  To  all  these 
Peter  endeavored  to  reply  by  each  Friday's  post,  but,  as  he 
wrote  once  to  Vinius,  '  sometimes  from  weariness,  sometimes 
from  absence,  and  sometimes  from  Khmeln'dskyJ  one  cannot 
accomplish  it.'  He  was  the  first  to  communicate  to  Moscow 
news  and  congratulations  on  the  battle  of  the  Zenta,  where 
Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy  defeated  the  Turks  commanded  by 
the  Grand  Vizier,  fur  which  he  ordered  Te  Deums  and  festivi- 
ties at  home,  and  had  a  banquet  given  by  his  embassy  in  Hol- 
land. The  defeat  of  the  Tartars  near  Azof,  and  the  splendid 
defence  of  Tavan  against  the  Turks,  made  an  occasion  for  an- 
other feast.  Until  the  Prince  de  Conti  ignominiously  returned 
by  post  from  Danzig,  after  he  had  gone  there  with  a  French 
squadron,  the  Tsar  was  much  troubled  with  Polish  affairs.  He 
had  also  to  thank  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden  for  his  timely  gift 
of  three  hundred  cannon  to  arm  his  infant  fleet,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  Lefort  was  asking  the  Chancellor  Oxenstjerna  for 
explanations  about  the  attitude  of  Sweden  in  regard  to  Poland. 
He  was  in  constant  communication  with  the  great  embassy,  and 
used  his  best  efforts  to  persuade  William  III.  to  join  in  the 
league  against  the  Turks.  Partly  for  this  purpose  he  went  to 
Utrecht  together  with  Lefort  and  "Witsen,  where  he  had  an 
interview  with  the  King  in  the  Toelast  Hotel.  Although  the 
details  of  this  interview  have  never  been  known,  it  was  thought 
worthy  of  a  commemorative  medal.  The  Government  of  the 
Netherlands,  fearing  for  its  Smyrna  and  Eastern  trade,  was 
unwilling  to  enter  into  any  such  alliance,  and  made  no  offer  of 
money  nor  of  a  loan,  which,  indeed,  the  Russians  had  not 
asked,  and  it  was  with  some  difficulty  even  that  men  could  be 
found  to  enter  the  Russian  service  as  officials,  engineers,  or 
craftsmen.  Those  who  went,  did  so  without  the  recommenda- 
tion of  the  Government,  and  on  their  own  responsibility. 


1  Ivdslika  Klmelnitzky,  from  Khmel,  hops,  is  the  Russian  substitute  for 
Bacchus. 


294  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

The  Tsar  was  also  greatly  interested  in  the  conferences  at 
Ryswyk,  which  at  last  resulted  in  a  treaty.  He  understood 
well  that  if  the  Emperor  were  freed  from  the  war  in  the  West, 
he  could  so  much  the  more  readily  devote  himself  to  operations 
against  the  Turks.  Nevertheless,  he  had  little  confidence  in 
the  duration  of  the  treaty,  even  before  it  was  signed.  Not 
understanding  how  necessary  it  was  for  England  and  the  Neth- 
erlands, he  believed  it  to  be  simply  a  manoeuvre  on  the  part  of 
France  for  gaining  time,  and  expected  a  new  war  soon.  We 
know  the  history  of  the  negotiations  at  Ryswyk,  the  struggles 
for  precedence,  and  the  interminable  disputes  on  etiquette. 
Now  that  Hussia  had  made  up  her  mind  to  enter  upon  regular 
diplomatic  intercourse  with  other  nations,  it  was  important 
that  she  should  make  her  debut  properly.  No  better  stage 
could  be  found  than  the  Hague,  where  the  most  skilled  diplo- 
matists of  all  European  countries  were  then  assembled.  On 
the  whole,  Russia  did  well.  The  embassy  was  splendidly  re- 
ceived at  the  Hague,  and  lodged  in  the  Oude  Doelen  Hotel,  as 
the  palace  of  Prince  Maurice,  the  usual  ambassadorial  lodging, 
was  already  full.  The  ambassadors  were  men  of  good  pres- 
ence, Lefort  had  wit  and  good  breeding,  the  liveries  were  new 
and  gorgeous,  the  entertainments  were  sumptuous,  the  presence 
of  the  Tsar  (for  he  had  gone  on  to  the  Hague  for  a  few  days, 
to  witness  the  ceremonies)  gave  additional  effect.  Visits  were 
made  to  all  the  foreign  ambassadors  except  to  the  French. 
The  feeling  created  by  Prince  Dolgoruky's  report  of  his  mis- 
sion, in  1687,  was  still  so  strong,  added  to  the  irritation  of 
Peter  against  the  French  intrigues  in  Poland  and  at  Constanti- 
nople,  that  he  would  not  permit  his  ambassadors  to  call  on  the 
French.  In  this  he  was  mrwise,  for  it  was  in  consequence  of 
this  that  certain  persons  continually  tried  to  cause  difficulties 
in  his  negotiations,  and  that  untrue  and  malicious  reports  with 
regard  to  the  embassy,  and  to  the  Tsar  in  particular,  had  circu- 
lation then,  and  have  since  found  credence. 

In  his  hours  of  recreation,  Peter's  curiosity  was  insatiable. 
He  visited  factories,  workshops,  anatomical  museums,  cabinets 
of  coins,  botanical  gardens,  theatres  and  hospitals,  inquired 
about  everything  he  saw,  and  was  soon  recognised  by  his  oft- 
repeated  phrases  :  '  What  is  that  for  ?     How  does  that  work  ? 


1697.] 


IX    HOLLAND. 


295 


That  will  I  see/  Tie  journeyed  to  Texel,  and  went  again  to 
Zaandam  to  see  the  Greenland  whaling  fleet.  In  Leyden  he 
made  the  acquaintance  of  the  great  Boerhave,  and  visited  the 
celebrated  botanical  garden  under  his  guidance,  and  in  Delft 
he  studied  the  microscope  under  the  naturalist  Leeuwenhoek. 


He  made  the  intimate  acquaintance  of  the  Dutch  military  en- 
gineer Baron  Van  Coehorn,  and  of  Admiral  Tan  Scheij.  He 
talked  of  architecture  with  Simon  Schynvoet,  visited  the  mu- 
seum of  Jacob  de  A^ilde,  and  learned  to  etch  under  the  direc- 


29  G 


PETER   THE   GKEAT. 


tion  of  Schonebeck.  An  impression  of  a  plate  he  engraved — 
for  he  had  some  knowledge  of  drawing — of  Christianity  victor- 
ious over  Islam,  is  still  extant.  He  often  visited  the  dissecting 
and  lecture  room  of  Professor  Ruysch,  entered  into  corre- 
spondence  with  him,  and  finally  bought  his  cabinet  of  anatom- 
ical preparations.1     He  made  himself  acquainted  with  Dutch 

home  and  family 
life,  and  frequented 
the  society  of  the 
merchants  engaged 
in  the  Russian 
trade.  He  became 
especially  intimate 
with  the  Thessing 
family,  and  grant- 
ed to  one  of  the 
brothers  the  right 
to  print  Russian 
books  at  Amster- 
dam, and  to  intro- 
duce them  into  Rus- 
sia. Every  market 
day  he  went  to  the 
Botermarkt,  min- 
gled with  the  peo- 
ple, studied  their 
trades,  and  followed 
their  life.  He  took 
lessons  from  a  trav- 
elling dentist,  and 
experimented  on  his 
servants  and  suite  ; 
he  mended  his  own 
clothes,  and  learned  cobbling  enough  to  make  himself  a  pair 
of  slippers.  He  visited  the  Protestant  churches,  and  of  an 
evening   he  did   not  forget  the   beer-houses,  which  we  know 


Copy  of  Etching  by  Peter 


1  It  now  forms  part  of  the  Museum  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  St. 
Petersburg. 


1697.J 


SIIIP-BUILDIJN'i!. 


297 


so  well  through   the   pencils  of   Teniers,  Brouwer,  and  Van 
Ostade. 

Tlie  frigate  on  which  Peter  worked  so  long  was  at  last 
launched,  and  proved  a  good  and  useful  ship  for  many  years,  in 
the  East  India  Company's  service.  But  Peter,  in  spite  of  the 
knowledge  he  had  acquired,  as  is  shown  by  the  certiticate  of 
his  master,  Baas  Pool,  was  not  satisfied  with  the  empirical  man- 
ner in  which  the  Dutch  built  ships.  lie  had  laboured  in  vain  to 
acquire  a  theory  in  ship-building  which,  with  a  given  length,  or 
the  length  and  the  width,  would  show  him  the  necessary  best 
proportions.  For  this  he  had  written  to  AVitsen,  from  Arch- 
angel, 1694,  and  had  then 
been  told  that  every  ship- 
builder made  the  proportions 
according  to  his  experience 
and  discretion.  Peter's  dis- 
satisfaction was  evident  in 
two  ways — by  his  sending  an 
order  to  Voronezh,  that  all 
the  Dutch  ship  -  carpenters 
there  should  no  longer  be 
allowred  to  build  as  they 
pleased,  but  be  put  under 
the  supervision  of  Danes  or 
Englishmen,  and  by  resolv- 
ing to  go  to  England  for 
several  months,  to  see  what 
he  could  learn  in  English 
ship-yards.  He  had,  indeed, 
been  recently  delighted  by  receiving  a  truly  royal  present 
from  King  "William.  This  wTas  the  King's  best  yacht,  the 
'  Transport  Royal,'  which  had  just  been  constructed  on  a  new 
plan,  was  light,  of  beautiful  proportions,  and  armed  with  twenty 
brass  cannon.  In  answer  to  the  letter  of  Lord  Caermarthen, 
which  spoke  of  it  as  the  best  and  quickest  vessel  in  England, 
Peter  sent  to  London  Major  Adam  Weyde,  who  had  just  come 
back  from  a  special  mission  to  Vienna,  and  from  taking  part  in 
the  battle  of  the  Zenta.  "Weyde  was  also  instructed  to  obtain  the 
King's  consent  to  the  visit  of  the  Tsar,  with  a  request  that  his 


Peter  s   Evening   Pipe 


298  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

incognito  should  be  as  far  as  possible  preserved.  Together  with 
a  favourable  answer,  came  English  vessels  for  himself  and  the 
great  embassy,  and  on  January  17,  1698,  Peter,  leaving  his 
embassy  in  Holland,  set  out  for  England.1 

1  Ustriiilof,  III.,  iii.  ;  Bruckner,  Reise,  etc.  ;  id.  Peter  (lev  Grosse;  J. 
Scheltema,  Peter  de  Groote  in  Holland,  Amsterdam,  1813  ;  id.  Busland  en 
de  Nederlandcn,  Amsterdam,  1817  ;  G.  Verenet,  Pierre  le  Grand  en  HoUande, 
Utrecht,  1863 ;  Posselt,  Lefort ;  Pekarsky,  Science  and  Literature  under 
Peter  the  Great  (Russian),  St.  Petersburg,  1802. 


XXXI. 

VISIT   OF   THE   TSAR   TO   ENGLAND. 

The  weather  was  stormy,  and  the  ships  of  Admiral  Mitch- 
ell could  carry  but  half  their  canvas,  but  the  wind  was  in  the 
right  direction,  and  early  in  the  morning  of  January  30  they 
were  coasting  along  Suffolk,  and  the  Tsar  was  saluted  by  the 
guns  of  the  fort  at  Orford.  Leaving  its  convoy  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Thames,  the  yacht  anchored  at  St.  Katherine's,  and 
Peter  was  rowed  in  a  barge  past  the  Tower  and  London  Bridge, 
and  landed  at  a  house  in  Xorfolk  Street,  Strand,  which  had  a 
few  years  before  been  the  refuge  'of  William  Penn,  when  under 
accusation  of  treason  and  conspiracy.'  The  Tsar  was  imme- 
diately waited  upon  by  a  chamberlain,  with  the  congratulations 
of  the  King,  who,  at  his  request,  appointed  Admiral  Mitchell 
to  be  in  constant  attendance  upon  him.  Three  days  later,  the 
King  came  in  person  to  see  him.  Peter  was  without  his  coat, 
but  made  no  ceremony,  and  received  him  in  his  shirt  sleeves. 
He  slept  in  one  small  room,  together  with  the  Prince  of 
Imeritia  and  three  or  four  others.  When  the  King  entered, 
the  air  was  so  bad  that,  notwithstanding  the  very  cold  weather, 
it  was  necessary  to  open  a  window.  This  visit  the  Tsar  re- 
turned a  few  days  afterwards,  when  he  made  the  acquaintance 
of  the  Princess  Anne,  the  heiress  to  the  throne,  and  her  hus- 
band, Prince  George  of  Denmark.  The  Princess  Anne  appar- 
ently made  a  deep  impression,  for  four  years  after,  when  she 

1  Tradition  says  that  at  this  time  the  door  was  never  opened  without  the 
servant  first  reconnoitring  through  a  loop-hole  to  see  whether  the  visitor 
looked  like  a  constable  or  a  dun.  The  house  is  now  No.  21  Norfolk  Street, 
and  is  converted  into  a  lodging-house  and  private  hotel.  Authorities  differ 
somewhat  as  to  the  house  Peter  occupied.  One  account  gives  a  house  in  the 
Adelphi ;  an  official  tablet  has  been  placed  on  the  front  of  No.  15  Bucking- 
ham Street,  Strand.     Luttrell's  -Relation  confirms  the  statement  in  the  text. 


300 


PETER   THE    GREAT. 


had  come  to  the  throne,  Peter  remarked,  in  a  letter  to  Apraxin, 
that  she  was  ca  veritable  daughter  of  our  church.' 

The  first  days  of  Peter's  stay  were  occupied  in  seeing  the 
sights  of  London,  and  making  acquaintances.  He  visited  the 
Royal  Society,  the  Tower,  the  Mint,  the  Observatory,  was  much 
in  the  society  of  the  eccentric  Lord  Caermarthen,  with  whom 
he  used  to  sup  at  a  tavern  near  the  Tower,  now  the  '  Czar  of 
Muscovy,'  visited  Caermarthen's  father,  the  Duke  of  Leeds,  and 
frequently  went  to  the  theatre.  One  of  the  favourite  actresses 
of  the  day,  Miss  Cross,  pleased  him  so  much,  that  his  relations 
with  her  became  very  intimate,  and  continued  so  during  his 

I 

y 


Sayes  Court 


stay  in  England.  More  than  all  he  was  attracted  by  the  docks 
and  the  naval  establishments,  although 'the  exceeding  sharp  and 
cold  season,'  which  the  Londoners  jestingly  said  the  Russians 
had  brought  with  them,  and  the  ice  in  the  Thames,  at  first  im- 
peded his  movements.  For  greater  convenience,  and  to  get  rid 
of  the  crowds  who  watched  for  his  appearance,  he  removed  to 
Deptford,  where  he  occupied  Sayes  Court,  the  house  of  John 
Evelyn.  For  forty-five  years  the  accomplished  author  of  '  Sylva ' 
had  been  making  the  plantations  and  laying  out  the  gardens, 
and  it  grieved  him  to  the  heart  to  have  such  bad  tenants  as 
the  Muscovites  evidently  were.     While  the  Tsar  was  still  there, 


1698.]  Evelyn's  house.  301 

Evelyn's  servant  wrote  to  him  :  '  There  is  a  house  full  of  peo- 
ple, and  right  nasty.  The  Tsar  lies  next  your  library,  and 
dines  in  the  parlour  next  your  study.  He  dines  at  ten  o'clock 
and  six  at  night,  is  very  seldom  at  home  a  whole  day,  very 
often  in  the  King's  Yard,  or  by  water,  dressed  in  several 
dresses.  The  King  is  expected  there  this  day ;  the  best 
parlour  is  pretty  clean  for  him  to  be  entertained  in.  The  King 
pays  for  all  he  has.'  The  great  holly  hedge,  the  pride  of  the 
neighbourhood,  was  ruined,  as  is  said,  by  the  Tsar  driving  a 
wheelbarrow  through  it.  The  King  had  already  remarked, 
after  receiving  Peter's  first  visit,  that  he  was  indifferent  to 
fine  buildings  and  beautiful  gardens,  and  cared  only  for  ships. 
After  Peter  had  gone,  Evelyn  writes  in  his  diary  :  '  I  went  to 
Deptford  to  see  how  miserably  the  Tsar  had  left  my  house 
after  three  months  making  it  his  court.  I  got  Sir  Christopher 
Wren,  the  King's  surveyor,  and  Mr.  London,  his  gardener,  to 
go  and  estimate  the  repairs,  for  which  they  allowed  3501.  in 
their  report  to  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury.' ' 

With  the  exception  of  a  week  spent  in  going  to  Portsmouth, 
where  he  was  gratified  by  a  review  of  the  English  fleet  off  Spit- 
head,  and  in  visiting  Windsor  and  Hampton  Court,  and  a  couple 
of  days  at  Oxford,  where  he  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of 
Laws,  Peter  remained  very  steadily  at  work  at  Deptford  until 
the  beginning  of  May.  He  had  come  to  England  expecting  to 
stay  but  a  short  time,  but  he  found  so  much  to  interest  and 
attract  him,  both  at  the  ship-building  establishments  at  Dept- 
ford and  at  the  Royal  Arsenal  at  Woolwich,  which  he  fre- 
quently visited,  that,  in  spite  of  the  rumours  which  reached 
him  of  troubles  at  Moscow,  he  constantly  put  off  his  departure, 
and  went  only  when  he  had  satisfied  himself  that  he  had  ac- 
quired all  the  special  knowledge  which  he  could  obtain  in  Eng- 
land. He  evidently  formed  a  high  opinion  of  English  ship- 
builders, for  he  subsequently  said  to  Perry  that  had  it  not  been 

1  Sayes  Court  had  been  let  by  Evelyn  in  169(3  to  Captain,  afterwards 
Admiral,  Benbow,  who  underlet  it  with  the  furniture  to  the  Tsar.  It  is 
not  therefore  quite  certain  which  tenant  caused  all  the  damage.  The  petition 
and  the  report  of  Wren  are  printed  in  Notes  and  Queries,  2nd  S.,  No.  19,  May 
10,  1856,  pp.  365-7.  In  1701,  Sayes  Court  was  let  to  Peter's  friend,  Lord 
Caermarthen,  who  had  a  similar  taste  for  things  maritime. 


302  PETER  THE   GitEAT. 

for  his  journey  to  England,  he  would  always  have  remained  a 
bungler.  One  thing,  however,  he  could  not  learn  there,  and 
thai  was  the  construction  of  galleys  and  galliots,  such  as  were 
used  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  would  be  serviceable  in  the 
1 5.  .sphorus,  and  on  the  coast  of  the  Crimea.  For  this  he  de- 
sired to  go  to  Venice. 

Peter,  who  prided  himself  on  being  a  good  judge  of  men, 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  England  in  looking  for  suitable  per- 
sons to  employ  in  Russia,  and  in  examining  their  qualifications. 
The  night  after  his  return  from  Portsmouth,  together  with 
Golovin,  who  had  come  over  from  Holland  for  the  purpose, 
he  signed  contracts  with  about  sixty  men,  many  of  whom  had 
been  recommended  by  Lord  Caermarthen.  The  chief  of  these 
Mere  Major  Leonard  van  der  Stamm,  a  specialist  in  ship-design- 
ing, Captain  John  Perry,  an  hydraulic  engineer,  whom  he  ap« 
pointed  to  construct  a  canal  between  the  Yolga  and  the  Don 
(for  Colonel  Breckell,  a  German  engineer  who  had  already 
begun  this  work,  had  run  away),  and  Professor  Andrew  Fer- 
gharson,  from  the  University  of  Aberdeen,  who  was  engaged 
to  found  a  school  of  navigation  at  Moscow.  For  officers  in  the 
fleet,  he  seems  to  have  preferred  Dutchmen  to  Englishmen, 
and  succeeded  in  persuading  Captain  Cornelius  Grays,  a  dis- 
tinguished Dutch  officer,  a  Norwegian  by  birth,  to  enter  his 
service.  Grays  brought  with  him  three  other  captains,  and 
officers,  surgeons,  and  sailors  to  the  number  of  five  hundred 
and  seventy.  The  officers  were  chiefly  Dutchmen,  the  sailors 
Swedes  and  Danes.  Among  the  surgeons,  who  had  been  rec- 
ommended by  the  anatomist  Puysch,  were  several  Frenchmen. 
More  than  a  hundred  other  officers,  including  Greeks,  Vene- 
tians and  Italians,  who  promised  to  find  sailors  acquainted  with 
the  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea,  were  also  taken  into  the  Rus- 
sian service  at  this  time.  With  mining  engineers,  however, 
Peter  found  it  difficult  to  enter  into  any  arrangements,  as  they 
demanded  what  he  considered  exorbitant  salaries.  He  had  at 
first  endeavoured  to  find  such  men  through  Witsen,  bnt  Witsen 
bad  always  deferred  giving  advice  from  day  to  day,  and  noth- 
ing was  done.  Finally,  the  Tsar  decided  to  find  some,  if  possi- 
ble, in  Saxony.  He  was  the  more  anxious  for  this,  as  during 
his  absence  Vinius  had  written  to  him  that  magnetic  iron  ore 


1698.]  A   TOBACCO   MONOPOLY.  303 

of  the  very  best  quality  had  been  discovered  in  the  Ural  Moun- 
tains, and  was  begging  in  every  letter  that  mining  engineers  he 
sent  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  mere  hand-money  which  had  to  be  paid  to  the  foreign- 
ers entering  the  Russian  service  was  a  great  expense,  and  the 
treasury  of  the  embassy  became  so  reduced  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  draw  on  Moscow  for  very  large  sums.  One  method 
was  found  by  Peter  for  obtaining  a  supply  of  ready  money, 
and  that  was  by  a  privilege  which  he  gave  to  Lord  Caermarthen 
for  the  monopoly  of  the  tobacco  trade  in  Russia.  Smoking 
tobacco  or  using  it  in  any  form  had  been  forbidden  by  the 
Tsar  Michael  in  1634,  under  pain  of  death,  and  religious  and 
old-fashioned  Russians  had  the  greatest  prejudices  against  this 
narcotic  herb.  ^Nevertheless,  the  use  of  tobacco  spread  so  fast 
in  spite  of  pains  and  penalties,  that  before  his  departure  for 
abroad,  Peter  made  a  decree  authorising  its  use,  and  even  then 
entered  into  temporary  arrangements  for  its  sale,  as  he  expected 
by  the  duties  to  realise  a  large  sum  for  the  treasury.  A  Rus- 
sian merchant,  Orlenka,  had  offered  15,000  rubles  for  the  mo- 
nopoly, and  even  General  Gordon  had  offered  3,000  rubles  in 
1695,  but  the  Marquis  of  Caermarthen  was  willing  to  give 
more  than  three  times  as  much  as  Orlenka,  viz.,  20,000^.,  or 
48,000  rubles,  and  to  pay  the  whole  in  advance.  For  this,  he 
was  to  be  allowed  to  import  into  Russia  a  million  and  a  half 
pounds  of  tobacco  every  year,  and  Peter  agreed  to  permit  the 
free  use  of  tobacco  to  all  his  subjects,  notwithstanding  all  previ- 
ous laws  and  regulations.  Lord  Caermarthen  acted  here  as  the 
representative  of  a  group  of  capitalists.  The  monopoly  had 
previously  been  offered  by  the  Tsar  to  the  Russia  Company, 
and  had  been  declined. 

The  personal  relations  of  the  Tsar  and  King  William  had 
become  very  cordial.  Peter  had  always  admired  "William,  and 
a  close  personal  intercourse  caused  the  King  to  speak  in  much 
higher  terms  of  Peter  towards  the  end  of  his  visit  than  he 
had  used  at  first.  As  a  souvenir  of  the  visit  of  the  Tsar,  the 
King  persuaded  him  to  have  his  portrait  painted,  and  the  re- 
markable likeness  of  him  by  Sir  Godfrey  Kneller,  then  in  the 
height  of  his  celebrity,  still  hangs  in  the  Palace  of  Hampton 
Court. 


304  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

The  Imperial  ambassador,  Count  Auersperg,  in  a  letter  to 
the  Emperor  Leopold,  says: 

•  A>  concerns  the  person  of  the  Tsar,  the  Court  here  is  well 
contented  with  him,  for  he  now  is  not  so  afraid  of  people  as 
he  was  at  first.  They  accuse  him  of  a  certain  stinginess  only, 
for  he  has  been  in  no  way  lavish.  All  the  time  here  he  went 
about  in  sailors  clothing.  We  shall  see  in  what  dress  he  pre- 
sents himself  to  Your  Imperial  Majesty.  lie  saw  the  King 
very  rarely,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  change  his  manner  of  life, 
dining  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  supping  at  seven  in 
the  evening,  going  to  bed  early,  and  getting  up  at  four  o'clock, 
which  very  much  astonished  those  Englishmen  who  kept  com- 
pany with  him.' 

Peter  and  Golovin  took  their  leave  of  the  King  at  Kensing- 
ton Palace,  on  April  28.  We  are  told  that,  as  a  slight  token 
of  his  friendship  and  his  gratitude,  not  only  for  the  kind  recep- 
tion he  had  had,  but  for  the  splendid  yacht  which  had  been 
presented  to  him,  Peter  took  out  of  his  pocket  a  small  twisted 
bit  of  brown  paper  and  handed  it  to  the  King,  who  opened 
it  with  some  curiosity,  and  found  a  magnificent  uncut  dia- 
mond of  large  size.  This  may  not  be  true,  but  it  is  thoroughly 
characteristic.  The  last  days  of  Peter's  stay  he  had  again 
consecrated  to  sight-seeing.  He  was  present  at  a  meeting  of 
Parliament,  when  the  King  gave  his  assent  to  a  bill  for  raising 
money  by  a  land  tax,  but  he  was  so  unwilling  to  have  his 
presence  known  that  he  looked  at  the  House  through  a  hole  in 
the  ceiling.  This  gave  rise  to  a  bon  mot  which  circulated  in  Lon- 
don society.  Some  one  remarked  that  he  had  '  seen  the  rarest 
thing  in  the  world,  a  king  on  the  throne,  and  an  emperor  on 
the  roof.'  Hoffmann  wrote  to  the  Austrian  Court  that  Peter 
expressed  himself  unfavourably  to  the  limitation  of  royal  power 
by  a  parliament;  but  according  to  a  Russian  account  he  said  : 
'It  is  pleasant  to  hear  how  the  sons  of  the  fatherland  tell 
the  truth  plainly  to  the  King;  we  must  learn  that  from  the 
English.' 

A  spirit  of  proselytism,  a  desire  to  propagate  one's  own  re- 
ligious, social,  and  political  views,  is  implanted  in  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  breast  at  least,  if  indeed  it  be  not  common  to  the  human 
race.     A  young  monarch  who  was  liberal  or  curious  enough  to 


1698.]  INTERESTED  IN   PROTESTANTISM.  305 

visit  Quaker  meetings  '  and  Protestant  cathedrals  became  the 
natural  prey  of  philanthropists  and  reformers,  who  saw  a  way 
opened  by  Providence  for  the  introduction  of  their  peculiar 
notions  into  remote  Muscovy.  Such  an  enthusiast  was  '  the 
pious  and  learned  Francis  Lee,  M.D.,'  who  gave  '  proposals  to 
Peter  the  Great,  etc.,  at  his  own  request,  for  the  right  framing 
of  his  Government.'  ~ 

That  Peter  should  visit  the  churches  of  different  denomina- 
tions in  Holland,  made  many  simple-minded  or  fanatical  Dutch 

1  Two  Quakers,  Thomas  Story  and  Gilbert  Mollyson,  succeeded  in  getting 
an  interview  with  the  Tsar  and  presented  him  with  Latin  translations  of  Bar- 
clay's Apology  and  other  books.  They  had  a  long  conversation  with  him,  and 
even  preached  him  a  sermon.  Peter,  who  seemed  interested  in  what  they 
said,  on  taking  the  books  asked :  '  Were  not  these  books  writ  by  a  Jesuit  ? 
It  is  said  there  are  Jesuits  among  you. '  This  was  a  plain  allusion  to  the  re- 
ports then  prevalent  of  the  Quakers,  and  especially  William  Penn,  being  the 
intermediaries  between  the  Jesuits  and  Jacobites  abroad  and  their  friends  in 
England.  William  Penn,  on  hearing  of  this  interview,  went  himself  to  Dept- 
ford  privately  and  had  a  long  talk  with  the  Tsar  in  Dutch,  which  he  spoke 
fluently,  presenting  him  at  the  same  time  with  some  Dutch  translations  of 
Quaker  books.  '  The  Tsar  appeared  to  be  much  interested,  so  that  the  visit 
was  satisfactory  to  both  parties.  Indeed,  he  was  so  much  impressed  by  it,  that 
afterwards,  while  he  was  at  Deptford,  he  occasionally  attended  the  meeting  of 
the  Quakers  there,  where  he  conducted  himself  with  great  decorum  and  conde- 
scension, changing  seats,  and  sitting  down,  and  standing  up,  as  he  could  best 
accommodate  others.  Nor  was  this  impression  of  short  duration,  for  in  the 
year  1712 — that  is  sixteen  years  afterwards,  when  he  was  at  Frederickstadt, 
in  Holstein,  with  five  thousand  men,  to  assist  the  Danes  against  the  Swedes, 
one  of  his  first  inquiries  was,  whether  there  were  any  Quakers  in  the  place  ; 
and  being  told  there  were,  he  signified  his  intention  of  attending  one  of  their 
meetings.  A  meeting  was  accordingly  appointed,  to  which  he  went,  accompa- 
nied by  Prince  Menshikof,  General  Dolgoniky,  and  several  dukes  and  great  men. 
Soon  after  they  were  seated  the  worship  began  ;  Philip  Defair,  a  Quaker,  rose 
up  and  preached.  The  Muscovite  lords  showed  their  respect  by  their  silence, 
but  they  understood  nothing  of  what  was  said.  The  Tsar  himself  occasionally 
interpreted  as  the  words  were  spoken,  and  when  the  discourse  was  over,  he 
commended  it  by  saying  that  whoever  could  live  according  to  such  doctrines 
would  be  happy.' — Clarkson's  Life  of  William  Penn,  pp.  253,  254. 

2  These  proposals  related  to  the  institution  of  seven  committees  or  col- 
leges : — 1.  For  the  advancement  of  learning.  2.  For  the  improvement  of 
nature.  3.  For  the  encouragement  of  arts.  4.  For  the  increase  of  mer- 
chandise. 5.  For  reformation  of  manners.  6.  For  compilation  of  laws.  7. 
For  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion.  They  were  printed  in  1752  in 
a  rare  book  entitled,  'Airo\enr6fi(va,  or  dissertations,  etc.,  on  the  Book  of  Genesis. 
It  is  hardly  possible  to  take  Lee's  phrase,  'at  his  own  request,'  in  its  most 
literal  interpretation. 

Vol.  I.— 20 


306  PETEB   THE   GREAT. 

believe  thai  he  was  inclined  to  Protestantism,  and  that  the  ob- 
ject of  hifl  journey  was  to  unite  the  Russian  and  Protestant 
churches.  It  Was  reported  that  he  had  already  taken  the  com- 
munion with  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  and  that  he  was  in- 
viting doctors  of  all  H-ienees  to  establish  colleges  and  academies 
in  hi>  dominions.  In  like  way,  in  Vienna,  it  was  widely  believed 
that  Sheremetief  had  already  become  a  Catholic,  and  that  the 
Tsar  was  inclined  to  become  one.  "When  Peter  was  in  Vienna, 
the  uuncio  reported  to  Home  that  the  Tsar  had  shown  a  special 
respect  for  the  Emperor  Leopold,  as  the  head  of  Christianity, 
that  he  had  dined  with  the  Jesuits,  and  wished  to  be  taken  into 
the  bosom  of  the  true  church.  From  Poland  the  Jesuit  Vota 
wrote  to  Cardinal  Spada,  with  great  satisfaction,  of  the  reveren- 
tial demeanour  of  Peter  during  the  Catholic  service,  and  of  the 
humility  with  which  he  had  accepted  his  blessing. 

Churchmen  in  England  were  led  into  similar  beliefs,  and 
entertained  hopes  of  a  similar  union  of  the  two  churches.  It 
was  probably  not  simple  politeness  that  led  the  Archbishop  of 
( Janterbury  and  other  English  prelates  to  visit  Peter.  Among 
them  was  Gilbert  Burnet,  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who,  in  his  'His- 
tory of  his  Own  Time,'  gives  the  following  opinion  of  the  Tsar  : 

'I  waited  often  on  him,  and  was  ordered,  both  by  the  King 
and  the  archbishop  and  bishops,  to  attend  upon  him,  and  to 
offer  him  such  information  of  our  religion  and  constitution  as  he 
was  willing  to  receive  ;  I  had  good  interpreters,  so  I  had  much 
free  discourse  with  him  ;  he  is  a  man  of  a  very  hot  temper,  soon 
inflamed,  and  very  brutal  in  his  passion ;  he  raises  his  natural 
heat  by  drinking  much  brandy,  which  he  rectifies  himself  with 
great  application  ;  he  is  subject  to  convulsive  motions  all  over 
his  body,  and  his  head  seems  to  be  affected  with  these ;  he  wants 
not  capacity,  and  has  a  larger  measure  of  knowledge  than  might 
be  expected  from  his  education,  which  was  very  indifferent ;  a 
want  of  judgment,  wTith  an  instability  of  temper,  appear  in  him 
too  often  and  too  evidently.  lie  is  mechanically  turned,  and 
seems  designed  by  nature  rather  to  be  a  ship-carpenter  than  a 
great  prince.  This  was  his  chief  study  and  exercise  while  he 
stayed  here;  he  wrought  much  with  his  own  hands,  and  made 
all  about  him  work  at  the  models  of  ships;  he  told  me  he  de- 
signed  a  great  fleet  at  Azuph,  and  with  it  to  attack  the  Turkish 


1698.]  burnet's  opinion.  307 

empire  ;  but  he  did  not  seem  capable  of  conducting-  so  great  a 
design,  though  his  conduct  in  his  Avars  since  this,  has  discovered 
a  greater  genius  in  him  than  appeared  at  that  time.  lie  was  de- 
sirous to  understand  our  doctrine,  but  he  did  not  seem  disposed 
to  mend  matters  in  Muscovy  ;  he  was,  indeed,  resolved  to  en- 
courage learning,  and  to  polish  his  people  by  sending  some  of 
them  to  travel  in  other  countries,  and  to  draw  strangers  to  come 
and  live  among  them,  lie  seemed  apprehensive  still  of  his  sis- 
ter's intrigues.  There  is  a  mixture  both  of  passion  and  severity 
in  his  temper,  lie  is  resolute,  but  understands  little  of  war, 
and  seems  not  at  all  inquisitive  that  way.  After  I  had  seen 
him  often,  and  had  conversed  much  with  him,  I  could  not  but 
adore  the  depth  of  the  providence  of  God,  that  had  raised  up 
such  a  furious  man  to  so  absolute  an  authority  over  so  great  a 
part  of  the  world.' 

The  phrase  '  he  did  not  seem  disposed  to  mend  matters  in 
Muscovy,'  evidently  referred  to  the  religious  question,  and 
Burnet,  as  wrell  as  others,  was  much  surprised  that  this  appar- 
ent free-thinker  and  liberal  should  hold  so  firmly  to  the  ortho- 
dox faith.  It  had  been  the  fashion,  either  from  too  little 
knowledge  or  from  too  great  patriotism,  sharply  to  criticise 
Burnet's  opinion  of  Peter's  character ;  but  considering  what 
Burnet  knew  of  Peter,  and  even  what  we  know  of  Peter,  is  it, 
after  all,  so  far  out  of  the  way  ?  Peter's  tastes  led  him  to 
navigation  and  to  ship-building,  and  he  sincerely  believed  that 
it  was  through  having  a  fleet  on  the  Black  Sea  that  he  would 
be  able  to  conquer  Turkey — the  idea  at  that  time  uppermost  in 
his  mind.  But  he  did  not  show  the  same  disposition  to  master 
the  art  of  war  as  he  did  that  of  navigation.  Many  a  wide- 
awake boy  of  fifteen  will  nowadays  equal  and  surpass  Peter 
in  special  accomplishments  and  general  knowledge.  Many  a 
young  man,  with  a  far  better  education  than  Peter,  has  the 
same  mechanical  and  scientific  turn,  carried  even  further.  At 
this  time  only  one  idea  possessed  Peter's  mind — navigation. 
His  own  studies,  the  fact  that  men  of  the  best  Russian  fami- 
lies were  sent  abroad  to  become  common  sailors,  and  nothing 
else,  are  proof  enough.     Hoffmann  Mrrites  to  Vienna : 

'  They  say  that  he  intends  to  civilise  his  subjects  in  the 
manner  of  other  nations.     But  from  his  acts  here,  one  cannot 


308  PETER   THE   GEEAT. 

find  any  other  intention  than  to  make  them  sailors;  he  has  had 
intercourse  almost  exclusively  with  sailors,  and  has  gone  away 
as  shy  as  he  came.' 

During  his  journey  abroad  he  saw  something  of  the  effects 
<>f  a  greater  civilisation;  lie  saw  comforts  and  conveniences 
which  he  thought  it  would  be  well  to  introduce  among  his  peo- 
ple, but  he  paid  little  or  no  attention  to  anything  concerning 
the  art  of  government,  or  to  real  civil  and  administrative  re- 
form. 

The  stay  of  Peter  in  Holland  and  in  England  gave  rise  to 
numberless  anecdotes.  The  stories  of  Dutch  carpenters  who 
had  assisted  him  in  Russia,  the  tales  told  by  the  English  cap- 
tains of  his  familiarity  at  Archangel,  of  his  bathing  with  them 
in  public,  and  of  his  drinking  bouts  and  familiar  conversation, 
had,  in  a  measure,  prepared  the  public  mind,  and  the  spectacle 
of  the  ruler  of  a  great  country  who  went  about  in  sailor's  cloth- 
ing, and  devoted  himself  to  learning  ship-building,  rendered  it 
possible  and  easy  to  invent.  Many  of  these  anecdotes  are,  in 
all  probability,  untrue.  They  are  of  the  same  class  of  stories 
as  are  told  now  of  any  remarkable  individual — the  Shah,  the 
Sultan,  the  Khedive — on  his  travels.  Sometimes  there  may 
be  a  basis  of  truth,  but  it  has  been  distorted  in  the  telling. 

After  the  interview  with  King  William,  Peter  delayed  still 
three  days,  which  were  chiefly  taken  up  with  visiting  the  Mint, 
for  he  had  been  struck  with  the  excellence  of  the  English  coin- 
age, and  had  already  ideas  of  recoining  the  Russian  money. 
On  May  2,  he  left  Deptford  in  the  yacht,  the  'Transport 
Royal,'  given  to  him  by  King  William,  but  even  then  could 
not  resist  running  up  to  Chatham  to  see  the  docks  there,  and 
arrived  at  Amsterdam  on  the  19th. ! 

Twice  the  embassy  at  Amsterdam  had  been  in  great  dis- 

1  The  '  Transport  Royal '  was  sent  to  Archangel  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Ripley,  and  took  a  part  of  the  collections  of  curiosities  and  military 
stores  which  Peter  had  collected  in  Holland.  By  the  Tsar's  order,  Franz 
Timmermann  met  it  there,  to  take  it  to  Vologda,  and  thence  partly  overland 
to  Yaroslav.  It  was  intended  afterward  to  convey  it  to  the  Sea  of  Azof,  as 
soon  as  the  canal  between  the  Volga  and  the  Don  should  be  finished,  but  as 
the  yacht  drew  nearly  eight  feet  of  water,  Timmermann  could  not  get  it 
farther  than  Holmogory,  and  it  went  back  to  Archangel,  where  it  remained 
ever  after. 


NICHOLAS  WITSEN,    BURGOMASTER   OF   AMSTERDAM. 


1698.]  ANXIETY   AT   MOSCOW.  309 

tress  about  Peter,  for  after  his  departure  for  London  the  storms 
were  so  great  and  the  colds  so  intense,  that  it  was  three  weeks 
before  any  news  was  received  from  him.  Again,  from  Febru- 
ary 18  to  March  21,  no  letters  arrived  in  Amsterdam.  People 
in  Moscow  were  still  more  troubled,  and  Vinius  showed  his 
consternation  by  writing  to  Lefort,  instead  of  to  Peter,  to  ask 
what  the  matter  was.  Peter  replied  on  May  23,  blaming  his 
friend  very  severely  for  being  so  troubled  by  a  miscarriage  of 
the  post,  and  adding  fuel  to  the  flame  at  Moscow  when  he 
ought  to  have  been  more  courageous  and  not  to  have  doubted. 
Lefort  had  written  from  Holland  several  letters  by  every  post, 
taken  up  with  longing  for  his  return,  with  inquiries  about  his 
health,  with  talk  of  the  necessity  of  going  to  Vienna,  and  of 
his  personal  desire  to  visit  Geneva,  and  begging  him  to  send 
something  fit  to  drink. 

On  arriving  at  Amsterdam,  Peter  found  several  relatives  of 
Lefort  who  had  come  from  Geneva  for  the  purpose  of  seeing 
him.  They  had  already  been  sumptuously  entertained  by  the 
embassy,  and  now  had  the  pleasure  of  being  presented  to  the 
Tsar,  and  being  amicably  received,  by  him.  The  accounts 
which  they  give  in  their  letters  home  of  the  position  of  their 
uncle,  and  the  ceremony  which  everywhere  attended  him,  show 
the  rank  which  he  held  above  the  other  ambassadors,  as  being 
the  friend  and  favourite  of  Peter.  "With  regard  to  the  Tsar 
himself,  Jacob  Lefort  writes: 

'  You  know  that  he  is  a  prince  of  very  great  stature,  but 
there  is  one  circumstance  which  is  unpleasant — he  has  convul- 
sions, sometimes  in  his  eyes,  sometimes  in  his  arms,  and  some- 
times in  his  whole  body.  He  at  times  turns  his  eyes  so  that 
one  can  see  nothing  but  the  whites.  I  do  not  know  whence  it 
arises,  but  we  must  believe  that  it  is  a  lack  of  good  breeding. 
Then  he  has  also  movements  in  the  legs,  so  that  he  can  scarcely 
keep  in  one  place.  He  is  very  well  made,  and  goes  about 
dressed  as  a  sailor,  in  the  highest  degree  simple,  and  wishing 
nothing  else  than  to  be  on  the  water.' 

There  was  every  reason  now  to  hasten  Peter's  departure. 
Troubles  at  Moscow  with  some  Streltsi  who  had  run  away  from 
the  army,  troubles  in  Poland,  where  the  Polish  magnates  were 
not  as  well  disposed  toward  Pussia  as  was  the  King  himself, 


310  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

troubles  at  Vienna — for  it  was  reported  to  him  that  the  Aus- 
trians  were  intending  to  make  a  peace  with  the  Turks,  without 
the  slightest  regard  for  the  interests  of  either  Poland  or  Russia 
— all  rendered  him  uneasy.  In  addition  to  this,  he  was  both 
surprised  and  astonished  to  learn  that  King  William  had  ac- 
cepted a  proposition  made  to  him  to  act  as  mediator  between 
Austria  and  Turkey,  and  that  the  States-General  of  Holland 
Mere  to  take  part  with  him.  The  troubles  at  Moscow  he  be- 
lieved to  be  over ;  at  all  events,  they  seemed  no  more  serious 
than  the  troubles  which  arose  in  Moscow  on  the  eve  of  his  de- 
parture, but  he  felt  it  necessary  to  get  soon  to  Vienna,  in  order 
that  he  might  have  a  personal  interview  with  the  Emperor 
Leopold,  and  ascertain  the  views  of  the  Austrian  court,  and,  if 
possible,  make  them  fall  in  with  his  own.  Beside  that,  he 
wished  to  go  on  to  Venice,  to  complete  his  studies  in  naval 
architecture.1 

1  Ustrialof ,  III.,  iv.  ;  Posselt,  Lefort ;  Perry,  State  of  Russia,  London, 
1716 ;  Bruckner,  Reise  Peters  des  Grossen ;  the  Austrian  despatches  in 
Sadler,  Peter  der  Grosse  als  Mensch  und  Regent,  St.  Petersburg,  1872,  p. 
239  ;  Narcissus  Luttrell,  Brief  Historical  Relation  of  State  Affairs,  Oxford, 
1857 ;  Phillimore,  Sir  Christoplter  Wren,  London,  1881.  See  also  the  de- 
scription of  the  Tsar's  visit  in  Macaulay's  History  of  England,  and  the  Lon- 
don newspapers  and  other  authorities  then  referred  to. 


XXXII. 

THE  JOURNEY  HOME. 

In  spite  of  his  haste,  it  took  Peter  a  month  to  reach  Vi- 
enna, where  he  arrived  on  June  26,  and  yet  he  travelled  every 
day,  with  the  exception  of  one  day  at  Leipzig  and  two  at  Dres- 
den. He  also  visited  the  linen  factories  at  Bielefeld,  surveyed 
the  fortifications  of  Konigstein,  and  walked  through  the  beau- 
tiful park  at  Cleves,  where  he  carved  his  name  on  a  birch-tree. 
In  Dresden  he  was  delighted  with  the  curiosities  of  the  Green 
Vaults,  where  he  went  immediately  after  his  arrival,  and  stayed 
all  night.  He  also  carefully  examined  the  arsenal,  and  aston- 
ished his  entertainers  by  displaying  the  knowledge  he  had 
acquired  at  Konigsberg  and  Woolwich,  and  by  pointing  out  and 
explaining  the  defects  in  the  artillery.  He  paid  a  visit  to  the 
mother  of  the  Elector,  for  Augustus  himself  was  then  in  Po- 
land, and  twice  supped  with  Prince  von  Fiirstenburg.  At  the 
Tsars  special  request,  ladies  were  invited,  and  among  others 
the  famous  Countess  Aurora  von  Konigsmark,  the  mother  of 
Maurice  de  Saxe,  then  a  child  in  arms.  Peter  had  met  her 
accidentally  on  his  way  to  the  arsenal,  and  had  doubtless  been 
informed  of  her  intimacy  with  Augustus.  At  these  suppers, 
he  was  '  in  such  good  humour  that  in  the  presence  of  the  ladies 
he  took  up  a  drum,  and  played  with  a  perfection  that  far  sur- 
passed the  drummers.'  Peter  had  a  strange  shyness,  which 
seemed  to  grow  upon  him.  He  hated  to  be  stared  at  as  a 
curiosity,  and  the  more  he  met  people  of  refinement,  versed  in 
social  arts,  the  more  he  felt  his  own  deficiencies.  Nothing  but 
the  excitement  of  a  supper  seemed  to  render  general  society 
possible  to  him.  His  visits  of  ceremony  were  brief  and  formal. 
It  was  very  hard  at  Dresden  to  keep  people  out  of  his  way,  and 
allow  him  to  go  about  unobserved.     After  the  Tsar  had  gone, 


312 


PETER  THE   GREAT. 


Fiirstenjburg  wrote  to  the  King:  'I  thank  God  that  all  has 
gone  off  so  well,  for  I  feared  that  I  could  not  fully  please  this 

fastidious  gentleman.'  And  General 
Jordan  reported  that  the  Tsar  was 
well  content  with  his  visit,  but  that 
he  himself  wras  'glad  to  be  rid  of 
such  a  costly  guest.' 

Strangely  enough,  in  spite  of  Peter's 
desire  to  find  mining  engineers,  he  did 
not  stop  at  Freiberg,  where  quarters 
had  been  got  ready  for  him. 

In  Vienna,  all  the  difficulties  of 
ceremonial  and  etiquette  were  re- 
newed. The  Holy  Roman  Empire,  as 
the  only  empire  in  the  world,  and  as 
the  lineal  descendant  of  the  old  em- 
pire of  Rome,  claimed  for  its  sovereign 
a  superior  rank  to  other  monarchs, 
and  insisted  greatly  on  punctilio.  The 
authorities  at  Vienna  wTere  unwilling 
to  grant  to  the  Russian  embassy  the 
same  honours  which  had  been  given 
to  it  in  other  countries,  or  to  do  any- 
thing wiiich  might  seem  to  place  the 
Tsar  on  the  same  level  with  the  Em- 
peror. For  that  reason,  it  took  four 
days  before  the  details  of  the  entry 
into  Vienna  could  be  arranged,  and 
even  then,  through  a  general  coming 
from  exercise  on  the  Prater  insisting 
on  marching  all  his  troops  across  the 
route  selected,  it  was  night  before 
the  ambassadors  could  take  up  their 
lodging  in  the  villa  of  Count  Konig- 
sacker,  on  the  bank  of  the  river 
Vienna  at  Gumpendorf — for  Peter 
had   particularly   requested   that   his 

Spire  of  St.  Stephen's  Cathedral,  Vienna.     quarters  should  be  in  the  Suburbs,  and 

not  in  the  middle  of   the  town.      The   Russians  were  little 


1698.]  AT   VIENNA.  313 

pleased  at  the  manner  of  their  reception,  and  even  the  Papal 
Nuncio  spoke  of  the  slight  pomp  displayed.  After  this,  more 
than  a  month  elapsed  before  the  ambassadors  had  their  solemn 
reception  by  the  Emperor,  and  it  was  only  then,  on  account  of 
Peter's  great  desire  to  take  Lefort  and  Golovin  with  him  to 
Venice,  that  he  waived  certain  points  of  ceremonial  which  had 
up  to  that  time  been  insisted  upon.  If  the  Congress  of  Vienna 
in  1815  did  no  other  good,  it  at  least  accomplished  much  in  put- 
ting all  States  on  the  same  rank,  abolishing  national  precedence, 
and  simplifying  court  ceremonial  as  respects  ambassadors  and 
ministers. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Peter  had  been  privately  re- 
ceived by  -the  Emperor,  the  Empress,  and  their  eldest  son, 
Joseph,  the  King  of  the  Romans,  in  the  imperial  villa  of  Favo- 
riten,  where,  with  truly  Austrian  ideas  of  maintaining  his  in- 
cognito, he  was  not  allowed  to  go  in  at  the  principal  entrance, 
but  was  taken  through  a  small  door  in  the  garden,  and  was  led 
up  a  small  spiral  staircase  into  the  audience-hall.  Leopold  also 
paid  a  personal  visit  to  Peter,  and  toward  the  end  of  his  stay, 
entertained  him  at  a  great  masquerade,  called  a  Wi/rihschaft,  in 
which  all  the  society  of  Vienna,  and  many  foreign  princes  so- 
journing there  took  part,  dressed  in  the  costumes  of  different 
countries.  Peter  appeared  as  a  Frisian  peasant,  and  his  part- 
ner, who  was  assigned  to  him  by  lot,  and  was  dressed  in  the 
same  costume,  was  the  Fraulein  Johanna  von  Thurn,  of  the 
family  now  called  Thurn  und  Taxis.  The  festivities  were  kept 
up  until  morning,  and  the  Tsar  was  most  merry,  and  danced 
'  senza  fine  e  misura?  At  the  supper-table,  where  there  was 
no  precedence,  the  Emperor  and  E:npress  sitting  at  the  foot  of 
the  table,  Leopold  arose,  and,  filling  his  glass,  drank  to  Peter's 
health.  This  was  immediately  responded  to,  and  the  same  cere- 
mony was  performed  with  the  King  of  the  Romans.  The  cup 
used  for  this  purpose — which  was  of  rock-crystal,  the  work  of 
di  liocca,  and  valued  at  2,000  florins — was  sent  the  next  day  to 
the  Tsar,  as  a  souvenir.  This  was  the  first  great  festivity  given 
at  court  since  the  beginning  of  the  war  with  Turkey.  Economy 
had  been  the  order  of  the  day.    Peter  Lefort  wrote  to  Geneva : 

'  I  must  admit  that  I  was  greatly  disappointed  on  my  arrival 
here,  for  I  had  expected  to  see  a  brilliant  court ;  it  is  quite  the 


:;i  i 


PETEE   THE    GBEAT. 


contrary.  There  are  neither  the  splendid  equipages  nor  the 
fine  liveries  we  saw  at  the  court  of  Brandenburg.  There  are 
many  great  lords  here,  but  they  are  all  very  modest  in  their 
dress.9 

( >n  St.  Peter's  Day  the  embassy  gave  a  great  hall,  with 
music  and  fireworks,  which  lasted  all  night,  and  at  which  a 
thousand  guests  were  present.1  It  is  worth  notice  that,  at 
the  state  dinner  which  followed,  the  solemn  audience  of  the 

a  m  b a  s  s  a  d  o  r s ,  the 
healths  of  the  Empress 
and  the  Tsaritsa  were 
omitted,  although  it 
had  been  agreed  be- 
forehand to  drink 
them.  There  were  rea- 
sons for  thinking  it 
might  be  disagreeable 
to  the  Tsar.  During 
the  dinner,  there  being 
much  talk  about  Hun- 
garian wine,  Baron 
Ivonigsacker  sent  Le- 
fort  a  salver,  with  six 
kinds  as  specimens. 
After  tasting  them, 
Lefort  begged  permis- 
sion to  pass  them  to 
his  friend,  who  stood 
behind  his  chair.  This  was  the  Tsar  himself,  who  had  come 
in  this  way  to  witness  the  feast. 

It  has  been  already  said  that  the  Papal  court  was  greatly 
excited  at  the  possibility  of  converting  Russia  to  Catholicism, 
and  the  despatches  of  the  nuncio  and  of  the  Spanish  ambas- 
sador show  with  what  care  every  movement  of  the  Tsar  was 
watched.     The  deductions  of  these  prelates  seem  to  us  now  to 

■  Notwithstanding  the  statements  in  the  despatches  of  the  nuncio  as  to  the 
small  amount  of  money  given  by  the  Imperial  Government  for  the  support  of 
the  embassy,  we  know,  from  Russian  official  documents,  that  the  whole  ex- 
pense of  the  feast  was  paid  by  the  Emperor's  treasury. 


Til 

West   Front  of  St.   Stephen's  Cathedral,    Vienna. 


1698.]  IMPRESSIONS   AT  VIENNA.  315 

be  based  on  very  narrow  premises.  They  evidently  believed 
what  they  wished  to  believe,  and  reported  what  they  knew 
would  please.  The  Cardinal  Kollonitz,  Primate  of  Hungary, 
gives,  among  other  things,  an  account  of  the  person  and  charac- 
ter of  Peter : 

k  The  Tsar  is  a  youth  of  from  twent}'-eight  to  thirty  years 
of  age,  is  tall,  of  an  olive  complexion,  rather  stout  than  thin,  in 
aspect  between  proud  and  grave,  and  with  a  lively  countenance. 
His  left  eye,  as  well  as  his  left  arm  and  leg,  was  injured  by  the 
poison  given  him  during  the  life  of  his  brother;  but  there 
remain  now  only  a  fixed  and  fascinated  look  in  his  eye  and  a 
constant  movement  of  his  arm  and  leg,  to  hide  which  he  ac- 
companies this  forced  motion  with  continual  movements  of  his 
entire  body,  which,  by  many  people,  in  the  countries  which  he 
lias  visited,  has  been  attributed  to  natural  causes,  but  really  it 
is  artificial.  His  wit  is  lively  and  ready ;  his  manners  rather 
civil  than  barbarous,  the  journey  he  has  made  having  improved 
him,  and  the  difference  from  the  beginning  of  his  travels  and 
the  present  time  being  visible,  although  his  native  roughness 
may  still  be  seen  in  him ;  but  it  is  chiefly  noticeable  in  his  fol- 
lowers, whom  he  holds  in  check  with  great  severity.  He  has 
a  knowledge  of  geography  and  history,  and — what  is  most  to 
be  noticed — he  desires  to  know  these  subjects  better;  but  his 
strongest  inclination  is  for  maritime  affairs,  at  which  he  him- 
self works  mechanically,  as  he  did  in  Holland ;  and  this  work, 
according  to  many  people  who  have  to  do  with  him,  is  indis- 
pensable to  divert  the  effects  of  the  poison,  which  still  very 
much  troubles  him.  In  person  and  in  aspect,  as  well  as  in  his 
manners,  there  is  nothing  which  would  distinguish  him  or  de- 
clare him  to  be  a  prince.' 

Inquiries  were  made  by  the  Tsar  as  to  the  intentions  of  the 
Emperor  to  conclude  a  peace  with  Turkey,  to  which  the  Em- 
peror frankly  replied  that  the  Sultan  had  himself  proposed  a 
peace  through  the  intervention  of  Paget,  the  English  ambassa- 
dor at  Constantinople,  and  had  recpiested  that  the  King  of  Eng- 
land should  be  a  mediator,  to  which  he  had  assented.  At  the 
same  time,  he  showed  the  Tsar  the  original  letters.  Peter  then 
had  an  interview  with  Count  Kinsky,  in  which  he  tried  to  con- 
vince him  that  it  would  be  better  for  the  Austrians  to  continue 


316 


PETER   THE    GREAT. 


the  war,  that  it  was  scarcely  fair  to  the  allies  to  make  peace 
without  consulting  their  interests,  and  that  if  peace  were  made, 
a  war  would  be  begun  with  France  about  the  Spanish  succes- 
sion, and  the  Turks  would  take 
this  occasion  again  to  attack  them. 
Kin  sky  explained  that  peace  was 
not  yet  made ;  that  nothing  more 
had  been  agreed  upon  than  to  hold 
a  congress ;  that  it  was  expected 
that  Russian  and  Polish  represen- 
tatives would  be  present  at  this 
congress,  and  would  explain  their 
demands ;  that  the  only  condition 
which  the  Emperor  had  made  for 
the  conclusion  of  peace  was  that  it 
should  be  on  the  basis  of  keeping 
what  each  one  had  possession  of  at 
the  date  of  the  treaty.  Peter  Mas 
so  far  convinced,  that  he  agreed  to 
present  his  demands  in  writing, 
which  were  simply  that,  in  addition 
to  the  places  he  already  occupied, 
there  should  be  ceded  to  him  the 
ess  of  Kertch,  in  order  that  he 
might  have  a  port 


a 
on  the  Black  Sea, 
and  thus  keep  the 
Tartars  in  order  ; 
that  if  this  condition 
were  not  agreed  to, 
the  Emperor  should 
not  make  peace,  but 
continue  the  war 
until  a  more  advan- 
tageous treaty,  or  until  1701,  by  which  time  he  hoped  to  have 
gained  great  advantages  over  the  Turks.  The  reply  which 
Leopold  sent  to  Peter  was  that,  while  he  found  the  demand  for 
the  cession  of  Kertch  to  be  a  just  one,  he  saw  a  great  difficulty 
in  the  way,  '  for  the  Turks  are  not  accustomed  to  give  up  their 


?«!&&? 


WW 

Trinity   Column,  Vienna. 


1698.]  RUDDEN   DEPARTURE.  317 

fortresses  without  a  fight,  and  even  what  lias  been  extorted  from 
them  by  arms,  they  try  in  every  way  to  get  back/  Tie  therefore 
urged  Peter  to  use  his  efforts  to  get  possession  of  Kertch  before 
the  treaty  should  be  made,  and  to  send  a  representative  to  the 
congress,  and  promised  again  that  he  would  sign  no  peace  with- 
out his  consent.  Peter  was  so  satisfied  with  this  that  he  was  on 
the  point  of  starting  for  Venice,  and  even  had  ideas  of  continu- 
ing his  journey  into  Italy,  and  perhaps  visiting  France  before 
his  return. 

Passports  were  obtained,  and  part  of  his  small  suite  had 
already  started  for  Venice,  where  great  preparations  were  made 
for  his  reception,  when  suddenly  a  letter  was  received  from 
Iiamodanofsky,  announcing  that  the  Streltsi  regiments  on  the 
frontier  had  revolted  and  had  marched  on  Moscow,  but  that 
Skein  and  Gordon  had  been  sent  to  put  them  down.  Nothing 
was  said  of  the  cause  of  the  revolt,  or  of  the  intentions  of  the 
Streltsi.  The  letter  had  been  on  its  way  for  a  whole  month, 
and  the  Tsar  was  still  in  ignorance  as  to  whether  the  revolt  had 
been  put  down,  or  whether  the  rioters  were  in  possession  of 
Moscow,  and  his  sister  Sophia  ruling  in  his  place.  Neverthe- 
less, he  decided  to  start  at  once,  and,  to  the  astonishment  of 
the  Austrians,  who  knew  nothing  of  this  news,  his  post-horses 
took  the  road  for  Moscow,  and  not  for  Venice.  Before  he  went, 
he  wrote  to  Pamodanof  sky  : 

'I  have  received  your  letter  of  June  27,  in  which  your  grace 
writes  that  the  seed  of  Ivan  Mikhailovitch  (Miloslavisky)  is 
sprouting.  I  beg  you  to  be  severe  ;  in  no  other  way  is  it  possi- 
ble to  put  out  this  flame.  Although  we  are  very  sorry  to  give 
up  our  present  profitable  business,  yet,  for  the  sake  of  this,  we 
shall  be  with  you  sooner  than  you  think.' 

Peter  travelled  day  and  night,  and  refused  even  to  stop  in 
Cracow,  where  a  banquet  had  been  prepared  for  him.  Immedi- 
ately afterward,  he  received  quieting  intelligence  that  the  in- 
surrection had  been  put  down,  and  the  ringleaders  punished. 
He  was  therefore  able  to  travel  more  leisurely,  looked  carefully 
at  the  great  salt  mines  of  Wieliczka,  and  at  Bochnia  inspected 
the  Polish  army,  which  was  encamped  there.  At  Rawa,  a  small 
village  of  Galicia,  he  met  King  Augustus  on  August  0,  and  was 
his  guest  for  four  days. 


318 


PETEIl  THE   GBEAT. 


Peter  had  expected  to  pass  by  the  way  of  Warsaw,  and  it 
was  with  great  surprise  that  the  King  received  a  courier  an- 
nouncing the  Tsar's  visit  for  the  same  day.  Arrangements 
were  at  once  made,  and  'the  King  waited  in  vain  for  him  all 
night,  for  he  did  not  arrive  until  the  next  morning  at  dinner- 
time. As  he  desired,  he  was  conducted  to  his  lodging  without 
formality  or  ceremony,  and  shortly  after  was  visited  by  the 
King.  The  tenderness  and  mutual  embraces,  the  kisses,  and 
the  expressions  of  love  and  esteem  which  they  gave  each  other, 
are  scarcely  credible.     The  Tsar,  knowing  well  the  esteem  of 

the  King,  was  car- 
ried away  by  sym- 
pathy, and  immedi- 
ately struck  up  with 
him  a  more  than 
fraternal  friendship, 
never  ceasing  to  em- 
brace and  kiss  him, 
and  telling  him  that 
he  had  come  almost 
alone,  with  very  few 
followers,  to  put 
himself  into  his 
hands,  and  confide 
his  life  to  him,  be- 
ing ready,  however, 
to  serve  him  in 
need  with  a  hundred 
thousand  men  or  more.'  Augustus  and  Peter  dined  and  supped 
together,  and  the  two  following  days  were  taken  up  with  amuse- 
ments, with  reviews  of  troops,  and  sham  fights,  which  greatly 
pleased  the  Tsar,  and  with  political  talk.  The  Jesuit  Yota, 
wh<  >  was  introduced  to  the  Tsar  by  the  King  himself,  argued  in 
favour  of  maintaining  the  Polish  alliance,  and  continuing  the 
war  against  Turkey.  Peter,  after  saying  that  he  thought  the 
Russians,  Poles,  and  Saxons  were  sufficient,  and  that  once 
Otchakof  were  taken,  Constantinople  would  be  in  the  death- 
struggle,  applied  the  old  fable  that  it  was  useless  to  divide  the 
skin  before  the  bear  was  killed.     The  impression  produced  on 


Column  of  the  Virgin,   Vienna. 


1698.]  PETER   AND   AUGUSTUS.  319 

Peter  by  Augustus  was  strong  and  lasting:  Peter  had  sup- 
ported tlie  candidacy  of  Augustus,  and  had  sent  an  army  to  the 
frontier  on  political  grounds,  but  the  sympathy  produced  by 
personal  contact  had  an  important  influence.  It  was  greatly 
owing  to  this  that  Peter  two  years  later  was  induced  to  enter 
the  Northern  League,  and  to  declare  war  against  Sweden.  The 
day  after  the  Tsar's  arrival  at  Moscow,  in  speaking  of  the  for- 
eign sovereigns  he  had  visited,  he  made  honourable  mention  of 
the  King  of  Poland.  '  I  prize  him  more  than  the  whole  of  you 
together,'  he  said,  addressing  his  boyars  and  magnates  that 
were  present,  k  and  that  not  because  of  his  royal  pre-eminence 
over  you,  but  merely  because  I  like  him.'  He  still  proudly 
wore  the  King's  arms,  which  he  had  exchanged  with  that  mon- 
arch for  his  own,  in  order  to  proclaim  that  their  bond  of 
friendship  was  more  solid  than  the  Gordian  knot,  and  never  to 
be  severed  with  the  sword. 

After  leaving  the  King,  Peter  went  on  to  Moscow  through 
Zamosc,  where  he  was  entertained  by  the  widow  of  the  castel- 
lan. He  met  there  the  Papal  Nuncio,  who  begged  permission 
for  missionaries  to  pass  through  Itussia  on  their  way  to  China, 
and  was  much  struck  with  the  amiability  of  the  Tsar,  especially 
as  Lefort  had  put  him  off  with  polite  excuses.  In  thanking 
the  Tsar  for  his  promise,  he  asked  him  to  give  him  a  written 
document.  Peter,  replying  that  when  he  arrived  at  Moscow 
he  would  immediately  send  him  a  diploma,  said :  '  My  word 
is  better  than  ten  thousand  writings.'  At  Brzesc-Litewski 
there  was  an  unfortunate  adventure  with  the  Metropolitan 
of  the  Uniates,  who,  in  talking  to  the  Tsar,  had  the  bad 
taste,  to  say  the  least,  to  use  the  word  schismatic,  in  regard 
to  the  members  of  the  Russian  Church.  The  Tsar  replied 
that  he  could  not  stand  such  impertinences  of  language,  and 
people  as  indiscreet  as  he  in  Moscow  would  have  been  whipped 
or  hanged.  Not  content  with  this,  Peter  asked  the  Gov- 
ernor to  send  away  the  Metropolitan,  saying  that  he  was  not 
sure  that  he  would  be  master  of  his  own  hands  if  he  met  him 
again. 

Notwithstanding  these  delays,  Peter  arrived  at  Moscow 
much  sooner  than  he  was  expected — on  September  4,  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening.     He  did   not  stop  at  the  Kremlin,  nor 


320  PETER  THE   GEEAT. 

see  his  wife,  but  accompanied  Lefort  and  Golovin  to  their 
houses,  then  called  to  inquire  for  General  Gordon,  who  was 
away  on  his  estate,  and  went  that  night  to  Preobrazhensky.1 

1  Ustrialof,  III.,  v.  ;  Theiner,  Monuments  Ilistoriques  ;  Fontes  rerum  Aus- 
triacarum,  Abth.  II. ,  vol.  27,  Vienna,  1867,  p.  429,  ff.  ;  Archiv .  fur  sachsische 
Geschichte  (187:5)  XL,  p.  127,  ff.;  Posselt,  Lefort;  Bruckner,  Beise  Peters  des 
Grossen  ;  id.  Peter  der  Grosse. 


XXXIII. 

THE  REVOLT  AND  THE  PUNISHMENT  OF  THE  STRELTSI. 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Moscow,  Peter  threw  himself  with 
feverish  haste  into  the  investigation  of  what  had  been  the  cause 
of  his  sudden  return — the  revolt  of  the  Streltsi  regiments. 

Ever  since  the  downfall  of  Sophia,  the  Streltsi  had  had 
abundant  reasons  for  complaint.  They  had  passed  long  terms  of 
service  on  the  southern  frontier,  taking  them  away  from  their 
wives  and  families,  and  from  their  business  affairs,  for  we  must 
not  forget  that  the  Streltsi  were  more  in  the  nature  of  a  na- 
tional guard  or  militia  than  of  a  regular  army,  living  at  home, 
and  in  ordinary  times  carrying  on  occupations  of  peace.  They 
had  been  treated  with  distrust,  and  even  with  something  like 
contempt  by  Peter  ;  in  his  sham-fights  the  Streltsi  had  always 
formed  the  enemy's  troops,  and  had  always  been  defeated,  and 
were  thus  placed  in  opposition  to  the  regular  soldiery,  and  to 
the  play-troops  of  Peter.  At  the  two  sieges  of  Azof  they  had 
suffered  much  ;  they  had  lost  many  men  in  the  assaults ;  they 
had  endured  many  privations  on  the  march  ;  and  they  had  been 
severely  punished  for  want  of  discipline.  All  of  this  they 
ascribed  to  the  influence  of  the  foreigners.  Seeing  how  the 
Tsar  protected  and  encouraged  foreigners,  how  he  enjoyed  their 
society,  and  how  he  had  almost  transferred  his  capital  to  the 
German  suburb,  their  hatred  was  very  natural.  After  the  siege 
of  Azof,  four  regiments  were  left  there  for  the  protection  of 
the  colony.  "When  Peter  was  in  Brandenburg,  and  received 
news  of  the  double  election  to  the  Polish  throne,  and  of  the 
possibility  that  the  Prince  de  Conti  might  make  an  attempt  to 
employ  force,  he,  in  order  to  be  ready  to  assist  King  Augustus, 
ordered  to  the  Polish  frontier  an  army  composed  partly  of 
Streltsi  and  partly  of  levies  in  the  old  Russian  style — that  is, 
Vol.  I.— 21 


322  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

retainers  of  the  great  noblemen.  For  this  purpose,  instead  of 
sending  to  the  frontier  of  the  Streltsi  then  in  Moscow,  six  regi- 
ments were  sent  from  thatplace  to  Azof,  and  the  four  regiments 
already  al  Azof  were  ordered  to  the  frontier.  These  men  had 
been  a  long  time  at  Azof  engaged  in  severe  labour — building 
fortifications — they  had  made  a  long  march,  and  they  were  not 
even  allowed  to  pass  through  Moscow,  much  less  to  halt  there 
for  a  short  time  to  see  their  wives  and  families.  Some  of  them 
resolved  to  return  to  Moscow  at  any  cost.  There  were  gradual 
desertions  from  the  army,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  March  one 
hundred  and  fifty-five  runaways  appeared  in  Moscow,  with  pe- 
titions that  they  should  all  he  allowed  to  return,  as  they  were 
suffering  from  want  of  provisions  and  want  of  pay.  This  sud- 
den arrival  threw  the  boyars  into  consternation,  and  the  desert- 
ers were  ordered  to  leave  Moscow  by  April  IS,  and  rejoin  their 
regiments.  At  the  conclusion  of  their  respite,  the  Streltsi, 
instead  of  going  away,  came  in  a  noisy  crowd  to  their  depart- 
ment and  demanded  to  be  allowed  to  present  their  case.  Prince 
Troekurof  agreed  to  receive  four  deputies,  but  no  sooner  had 
they  begun  to  speak  than,  with  the  political  unwisdom  so  char- 
acteristic of  the  hasty-tempered  boyars  of  that  time,  he  com- 
menced abusing  and  scolding  them,  and  had  them  arrested.  On 
their  way  to  prison  they  were  rescued  by  their  comrades,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  expel  them  from  the  town.  In  the  conflict 
one  man  was  killed,  and  another  was  arrested  and  sent  to  Siberia. 
The  Streltsi  returned  to  Toropetz,  where  the  army  was 
then  encamped,  bringing  not  only  their  complaints,  but  strange 
reports  of  what  they  had  heard  and  seen  at  Moscow7.  They  had 
found  what  all  Russians  had  so  long  hated — a  Government  of 
boyars,  accompanied  with  extortion,  bribery,  injustice,  and  mis- 
rule.1 The  Tsar  was  away,  and  it  was  said  that  he  had  become 
entirely  German,  that  he  had  abandoned  the  orthodox  faith, 
that  the  country  was  to  be  given  up  to  the  foreigners,  and  that 
for  true  Russians  there  was  no  hope.  For  weeks  nothing  had 
been'  heard  from  the  Tsar,  and  the  alarm  which  was  evident 
among  the  rulers  and  among  Peters  friends,  as  shown  by  the 


1  According  to  Guarient,  the  Austrian  ambassador,  this  charge  was  only 
too  true. 


1698.]  REVOLT   OF   THE   STRELTSI.  323 

letters  of  Vinius  and  Ramodanofsky,  easily  spread,  with  exag- 
gerations, to  the  common  people.  It  was  reported  that  the 
Tsar  was  dead,  that  the  life  of  the  Tsarevitch  was  in  danger, 
that  the  ears  of  the  Tsaritsa  had  heen  boxed  by  the  boyars,  that 
the  princesses  were  almost  starved  and  had  to  ask  aid  of  their 
friends,  and  that  the  boyar  Tikhon  Streslmef  desired  to  make 
himself  Tsar.  The  reports  of  these  deserters  had  sufficiently 
excited  the  minds  of  their  comrades,  when  a  decree  arrived  dis- 
persing the  army,  but  ordering  the  Streltsi,  instead  of  returning 
to  Moscow,  to  take  up  their  quarters  in  the  towns  of  Yiazma, 
Bielaya,  Rzhef,  A'olodomirovo,  and  Dorogobiizh,  while  the  de- 
serters were  to  be  sent  into  exile,  with  their  wives  and  children, 
on  the  frontier  of  Little  Russia.  Xeither  Prince  Michael  Ramo- 
danofsky, the  general-in-chief,  nor  their  colonels,  could  restrain 
the  riotous  disposition  of  the  Streltsi.  Those  who  had  been 
already  arrested  were  released  by  their  comrades,  and  the  de- 
serters easily  succeeded  in  concealing  themselves  among  the 
different  regiments,  sure  of  protection.  Their  surrender  was  re- 
fused, and  finally,  after  some  halts  and  hesitations,  the  Streltsi 
began  to  march  toward  Moscow.  The  news  of  their  approach 
excited  a  general  panic,  well-to-do  people  began  to  leave  the 
capital,  and  the  Government  was  at  its  wits'  end.  Fears  were 
entertained  of  an  insurrection  of  the  serfs  and  common  people, 
and  there  were  disputes  among  the  boyars  as  to  the  proper 
measures  to  be  taken.  At  last  it  was  decided  to  send  against 
them  the  boyar  Skein,  General  Gordon,  and  Prince  Koltsof- 
Massalsky,  with  four  thousand  regular  soldiers  and  twenty-five 
cannon.  The  troops  came  up  with  the  rioters  at  the  village  of 
Vozkresensk}7,  about  thirty  miles  north-west  of  Moscow,  where 
the  Patriarch  Xikon  had  established  his  still  celebrated  monas- 
tery of  the  Xew  Jerusalem,  and  while  Shei'n  was  engaged  in 
negotiations  and  in  receiving  the  complaints  of  the  rioter^,  Gor- 
don, after  taking  up  a  commanding  position,  gradually  sur- 
rounded the  camp  of  the  Streltsi  with  his  troops.  General 
Gordon  was  himself  sent  to  the  camp  of  the  Streltsi,  and,  as  he 
says,  '  used  all  the  rhetoric  I  was  master  of,  but  all  in  vain.' 
The  foreigner  having  failed,  a  Russian.  Prince  Koltsof-Mas- 
salsky,  then  undertook  to  persuade  the  rioters  to  submit.  lie 
had  no  better  success,  but,  as  a  final  epitome  of  their  complaints 


324  PETEE  THE   GREAT. 

and  griefs,  the  sergeant  Zorin  gave  him  a  draft  of  an  unfinished 
petition,  which   recited    k  the  faithful   services   of  themselves, 

their  fathers,  and  their  ancestors  to  the  Tsars  according  to  the 
common  Christian  faith;  that  they  had  always  intended  to 
keep  to  orthodoxy,  as  prescribed  by  the  holy  Apostolic  Church; 
.  .  .  .  that  they  had  been  ordered  to  serve  in  different  towns 
lor  a  year  at  a  time,  and  that,  when  they  were  in  front  of  Azof, 
by  the  device  of  a  heretic  and  foreigner,  Fransko  Lefort,  in  order 
to  cause  great  harm  to  orthodoxy,  he,  Fransko,  had  led  the 
Moscow  Streltsi  under  the  wall  at  a  wrong  time,  and,  by  putting 
them  in  the  most  dangerous  and  bloody  places,  many  of  them 
had  been  killed  ;  that  by  his  device  a  mine  had  been  made 
under  the  trenches,  and  that  by  this  mine  he  had  also  killed 
three  hundred  men  and  more/  With  much  other  complaining 
about  the  losses  they  had  met  with  at  Azof,  the  hard  service 
which  they  had  endured  ever  since,  and  the  bad  treatment  they 
had  to  suffer  from  their  generals,  the  petition  concluded  by  say- 
ing that  "they  had  heard  that  in  Moscow  there  is  great  terror, 
and  for  that  reason  the  town  is  shut  up  early,  and  only  opened 
at  the  second  or  third  hour  of  the  following  clay,  that  the 
whole  people  are  suffering  great  insolence,  and  that  they  had 
heard  that  Germans  are  coming  to  Moscow  who  have  their 
beards  shaved,  and  publicly  smoke  tobacco,  to  the  discredit  of 
orthodoxy.'  It  was,  of  course,  impossible  for  Shei'n  to  comply 
with  Zorin's  request  that  a  paper  which,  in  disguise  of  a  peti- 
tion, was  an  attack  on  the  favourite  of  the  Tsar,  on  the  Tsar 
himself,  and  on  all  his  ideas,  should  be  read  publicly  before 
the  army.  The  Streltsi  showing  no  signs  of  giving  in,  twenty- 
live  cannon  were  fired  over  their  heads.  Encouraged,  rather 
than  discouraged,  by  this,  the  Streltsi  beat  their  drums  and 
waved  their  banners,  the  priests  chanted  prayers,  and  they  ad- 
vanced to  attack  the  troops.  A  few  more  rounds  were  fired, 
and  the  Streltsi  dispersed  in  all  directions  and  sought  refuge  in 
the  houses  and  barns  of  the  village,  after  losing  fifteen  killed 
and  thirty-seven  wounded.  The  whole  affair  occupied  about 
an  hour.  Those  who  ran  away  were  caught.  An  investigation 
was  immediately  made  by  Shei'n,  accompanied  by  torture  and 
torment,  130  men  Were  executed,  and  1,860  imprisoned  in  vari- 
ous monasteries  and  strongholds. 


1698.]  TORTURE.  325 

On  the  way  home  from  Vienna,  Peter  had  received  Letters 
from  Gordon  and  others,  telling  him  of  Shein's  victory,  and  of 
the  punishment  meted  out  to  the  rebellious.     Yinius  wrote  : 

c!Nbt  one  got  away  ;  the  worst  <»f  them  were  sent  on  the 
road  to  the  dark  life  with  news  of  their  brethren  to  those 
already  there,  who,  I  think,  are  imprisoned  in  a  special  place ; 
for  Satan,  I  imagine,  fears  lest  they  may  get  up  a  rebellion  in 
hell,  and  drive  him  out  of  his  realms.' 

When  Peter  came  to  learn  the  details  of  the  revolt,  and  the 
proceedings  of  the  trial  of  the  ringleaders,  he  was  dissatisfied. 
Two  questions  disturbed  his  mind,  and  on  neither  of  them  was 
there  thrown  any  light — How  far  was  Sophia  implicated  in  this 
disturbance  ?  and  had  there  been  any  plot  against  his  life  on 
the  part  of  the  dissatisfied  members  of  the  nobility  '.  To  sat- 
isfy himself  on  these  points,  he  had  all  those  Streltsi  who  were 
kept  under  guard  in  the  prisons  and  monasteries  brought  in 
batches  to  Preobrazhensky,  where  he  instituted  a  criminal  in- 
vestigation on  a  tremendous  scale.  A  criminal  investigation  at 
that  time  meant  the  application  of  torture  to  obtain  confessions, 
and  he  established  fourteen  torture  chambers,  which  were  pre- 
sided over  by  the  Russians  he  had  most  confidence  in  for  that 
sort  of  work.1  In  these  chambers  about  twenty  men  were  ex- 
amined daily,  except  Sunday.  The  Tsar  was  himself  present 
at  the  torture,  and  personally  questioned  those  who  seemed 
most  criminal.  Torture  at  that  time  in  Russia  was,  as  it  had 
long  been,  of  three  kinds — the  batogs,  the  knout,  and  fire.  In 
administration  of  the  batogs,  a  man  was  held  down  by  two  per- 
sons, one  at  his  head  and  the  other  at  his  feet,  who  struck  at 
his  bare  back  in  turn  with  batogs — little  rods  of  the  thickness 
of  the  finger — 'keeping  time  as  smiths  do  at  an  anvil  until 
their  rods  are  broken  in  pieces,  and  then  they  take  fresh  ones 
until  they  are  ordered  to  stop.'  'The  knout  is  a  thick,  hard 
thong  of  leather,  of  about  three  feet  and  a  half  long,  with  a 
ring  or  kind  of  swivel  like  a  flail  at  the  end  of  it,  to  which  the 

1  These  were  Prince  Peter  Prozorofsky,  Prince  Michael  Tcherkasky, 
Prince  Vladimir  Dolgoruky,  Prince  Ivan  Troekurof,  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn, 
Shein,  Prince  Michael  Ramodanofsky,  Streshnef,  Prince  Theodore  Stcherba- 
tof,  Prince  Peter  Lvof,  Ivan  Golovin,  Simeon  Yazykof,  Prince  Theodore 
Ramodanofsky,  and  Zutof. 


320  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

thong  is  fastened.'  The  executioner  strikes  the  criminal  'so 
many  strokes  od  the  bare  back  as  are  appointed  by  the  judge, 
first  making  a  step  back  and  giving  a  spring  forward  at  every 
stroke,  which  is  laid  on  with  such  force  that  the  blood  flies  at 
every  stroke,  and  leaves  a  wheal  behind  as  thick  as  a  man's 
finger;  and  these  masters,  as  the  Russians  call  them,  are  so 
exact  at  their  own  work  that  they  very  rarely  strike  two  strokes 
in  tin-  same  place,  but  lay  them  on  the  whole  length  and 
breadth  of  a  man's  back,  by  the  side  of  each  other,  with  great 
dexterity,  from  the  top  of  the  man's  shoulders  down  to  the 
waistband  of  his  breeches."  The  criminal  was  usually  hoisted 
upon  the  back  of  another  man,  but  sometimes  his  hands  were 
tied  behind  him,  and  he  was  then  drawn  up  by  a  rope,  while  a 
heavy  weight  was  affixed  to  his  feet,  so  that  he  hung  there  with 
his  shoulders  out  of  joint.  In  torturing  a  man  by  fire,  'his 
hands  and  feet  are  tied,  and  he  is  then  fixed  on  a  long  pole,  as 
upon  a  spit,  which  being  held  at  each  end  by  two  men,  he  has 
his  raw  back  roasted  over  the  lire,  and  is  then  examined  and 
called  upon  by  a  writer  to  confess/  In  this  way  1,714  men 
were  examined,  and  Guarient  and  Ivor!)  write  that  thirty  fires 
Mere  daily  burning  at  Preobrazhensky  for  this  purpose. 

In  spite  of  all  these  horrors,  Peter  ascertained  almost  noth- 
ing. Xo  boyar  or  person  of  distinction  was  found  to  have 
taken  part  in  any  plot,  or  to  have  instigated  the  riot.  Xothing 
more  could  be  brought  out  than  the  discontent  of  the  Streltsi, 
their  hatred  to  foreigners,  and  their  subsequent  rebellion.  With 
regard  to  Sophia,  it  was  a  long  time  before  any  revelations  were 
made  at  all,  and  finally  all  that  was  alleged,  under  the  severest 
torture,  was  that  two  letters  purporting  to  be  from  Sophia  had 
been  read  in  the  Streltsi  camp.  These  letters  urged  the 
Streltsi  to  come  to  Moscow,  to  attack  the  town,  and  to  call 
Sophia  to  the  throne.  The  wives  of  the  Strelt>i.  all  the  bed- 
chamber women  and  attendants  of  the  princesses,  even  poor 
beggars  who  had  received  their  charity,  were  examined  and  tor- 
tured ;  the  princesses  themselves  were  personally  examined  by 
Peter  without  torture,  and  yet  nothing  could  be  found  which  in 
any  way  traced  these  letters  to  Sophia.  The  most  that  was  dis- 
covered was  that  her  sisters  sometimes  sent  Sophia  notes  hid- 
den in  linen  and  clothing,  and  that  they  had  informed  her  that 


THE   PRINCESS   SOPHIA    AS   THE    MX    SUSANNA    IN   THE 
NOVODEVITCHT    MONASTERY. 


1698.]  PUNISHMENT   OF   SOPHIA.  327 

the  Streltsi  were  all  coming  to  Moscow,  and  would  probably  be 
punished  ;  to  which  she  was  reported  to  have  replied  that  '  she 
was  very  sorry  for  them.'  Xo  great  evidence  of  guilt  this  ! 
Sophia  herself  said  to  her  brother  that  she  had  never  sent  any 
letter  to  the  Streltsi,  and  that  as  to  calling  her  to  the  throne, 
it  needed  no  letter  from  her,  as  they  must  well  remember  that 
up  to  1089  she  had  ruled  the  state.  Many  Streltsi  declared, 
under  torture,  that  they  believed  the  Tsar  to  have  died  abroad  ; 
that  they  therefore  intended  to  revenge  themselves  on  the 
foreigners  and  destroy  the  German  suburb,  to  kill  the  boyars 
who  had  oppressed  them,  and  then  to  ask  Sophia  to  rule  them ; 
and  that  had  she  refused,  they  would  have  asked  the  Tsarevitch, 
or  the  other  princesses,  and  as  a  last  resort, '  Prince  Basil  Golitsyn 
if  he  were  still  alive,  for  he  had  always  been  merciful  to  them.' 

The  written  depositions  of  all  the  persons  examined  in  this 
investigation  are  still  in  existence  in  the  Russian  archives,  and 
on  a  careful  analysis  they  seem  to  prove  very  little.  Peter,  how- 
ever, chose  to  be  satisfied  of  the  complicity  of  his  sister,  and,  as 
the  only  method  of  preventing  her  from  again  engaging  in  in- 
trigue, he  forced  her  to  take  religious  vows.  Under  the  name  of 
the  nun  Susanna  she  was  confined  under  the  strictest  surveil- 
lance, guarded  by  a  hundred  soldiers,  in  the  Novodevitchy  con- 
vent, where  she  had  already  lived  for  nine  years.  In  close  con- 
finement, not  allowed  to  see  even  the  members  of  her  family, 
except  under  the  greatest  precautions,  she  lived  on  until  1701. 
Her  sister  Martha  was  also  made  a  mm  in  a  convent  at  Alexan- 
drofsky,  under  the  name  of  Margaret,  and  died  there  in  1707. 
The  Princess  Catherine,  who  was  strongly  suspected,  on  account 
of  certain  relations  which  she  had  had  with  a  deacon,  succeeded 
in  escaping.  She  was  proved  to  be  guilty  of  nothing  more  than 
dallying  with  sorcery  and  witchcraft,  heinous  as  that  offence  Mas. 

The  execution  of  the  first  batch  of  Streltsi  examined  (311 
men)  took  place  on  October  10.  Only  201  were  actually  put  to 
death — five  were  beheaded  at  Preobrazhensky,  196  were  hanged 
along  the  walls  of  Moscow  and  at  the  gates — a  hundred  who 
were  under  twenty  years  of  age  were  branded  in  the  right  cheek 
and  sent  into  exile,  and  the  remaining  forty  were  detained  for 
further  examination.  These  executions  took  place,  at  least  in 
part,  in  the  presence  of  the  Tsar  himself  and  of  most  of  the 


328  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

foreign  ministers  and  ambassadors,  who  were  specially  invited  to 
be  present.  <  >f  the  second  batch,  770  men  were  executed — sonic 
hanged  some  beheaded,  and  others  broken  on  the  wheel.  Of 
this  number,  L95  were  hanged  on  a  large  square  gallows  in  front 
of  the  cell  of  Sophia  at  the  No vodevitchy  convent,  and  three  re- 
mained hanging  all  the  winter  under  her  very  window,  one  of 
them  holding  in  his  hand  a  folded  paper  to  represent  a  petition. 
Long  files  of  carts  carried  the  Streltsi  to  the  place  of  execution. 
Each  cart  contained  two  men  seated  back  to  back,  with  lighted 
candles  in  their  hands.  Their  wives  and  children  ran  weeping 
and  shrieking  alongside  ;  the  populace  stood  silent,  cursing  the 
Tsar  under  their  breath ;  except  the  nobles  and  the  foreign- 
ers, everyone  sympathised  with  the  criminals.  In  general  the 
Streltsi  met  their  death  with  great  stolidity  'there  was  a  kind 
of  order  among  the  unfortunate  wretches  ;  they  all  followed  one 
another  in  turn,  without  any  sadness  on  their  features,  or  any 
horror  of  their  imminent  death.'  '  When  the  execution  was  over, 
it  pleased  the  Tsar's  majesty  to  sup  at  General  Gordon's  ;  but  he 
showed  no  sign  of  cheerfulness,  insisting  to  several  upon  the 
obstinacy  and  stubbornness  of  the  criminals.  He  detailed  with 
indignant  words  to  General  Gordon  and  the  Muscovite  magnates 
present  that  one  of  the  condemned  was  so  insolent  that  he  dared, 
just  as  he  was  about  lying  down  upon  the  beam,  to  address  the 
Tsar  with  these  words  :  "  Make  way,  my  Lord — it  is  for  me  to 
lie  here."  ' 

Further  executions  took  place  during  the  winter,  and  some 
of  the  trials  were  actually  prolonged  for  several  years  with- 
out great  result.  One  execution  was  delayed  until  1707.  The 
heads  of  many  were  placed  on  spikes  and  their  bodies  remained 
heaped  up  at  the  place  of  execution,  while  others  stayed  nearly 
the  whole  winter  hanging  to  the  gallows  and  to  beams  put 
through  the  battlements  of  the  walls.  About  the  middle  of 
March,  1,068  bodies  were  taken  down  and  heaped  up  outside  the 
town  along  the  roads.  Here  they  remained  two  weeks  more 
before  they  were  buried,  and  commemorative  pillars  with  heads 
spiked  on  top  were  erected  on  the  spot.  It  is  necessary  to  add 
that  this  proceeding  was  only  possible  in  such  a  large  town  be- 
i -an-e  the  weather  in  Moscow  in  winter  is  always  below  freezing 
point. 


1098.]  EXECUTIONS.  389 

The  times  were  cruel,  and  people  in  Russia  were  accustomed 
to  scenes  of  blood,1  yet  such  general  horror  was  felt  at  those 
tortures  and  executions  that  the  Patriarch  felt  it  his  duty  to 
take  a  picture  of  the  Virgin  and  exhort  the  Tsar  to  mercy. 
But  Peter,  resenting  the  intervention,  inveighed  against  the  Pa- 
triarch :  %  What  wilt  thou  with  thy  image,  or  what  business  is  it 
of  thine  to  come  here  ?  Hence  forthwith,  and  put  that  image 
in  the  place  where  it  may  be  venerated.  Know  that  I  reverence 
God  and  His  most  holy  Mother  more  earnestly,  perhaps,  than 
thou  dost.  It  is  the  duty  of  my  sovereign  office,  and  a  duty  that 
I  owe  to  God,  to  save  my  people  from  harm,  and  to  prosecute, 
with  public  vengeance,  crimes  that  tend  to  the  common  ruin/ 

Disagreeable  as  it  is  to  believe,  the  evidence  of  several  per- 
sonal observers  is  that  Peter  compelled  many  of  his  courtiers 
and  nobles  to  act  as  executioners,  and  on  one  day,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Tsar,  109  persons  were  beheaded  at  Preobrazhensky 
by  the  nobles  of  his  court.  It  is  said  that  Menshikof  espe- 
cially distinguished  himself  by  his  cruelty.  Whether  Peter  was 
himself  guilty  of  immersing  his  own  hands  in  his  subjects' 
blood  remains  a  question.  It  is  positively  asserted  both  by 
Guarient,  the  Austrian  ambassador,  in  his  official  reports,  and 
by  his  secretary  Korb,  in  his  diary,2  but  both  admit  that  they 
were  not  present,  and  had  it  from  hearsay,  while  Gordon  and 
Zheliabuzhky,  who  were  certainly  better  informed,  make  no 
mention  of  this,  though  they  speak  of  the  executions  by  the 
nobles.  At  all  events,  these  horrible  occurrences  inspired  the 
common  people  with  a  belief  in  the  cruelty  and  blood-thirsti- 
ness of  Peter.  It  was  said  that  neither  he  nor  Pamodanofsky 
could  sleep  until  they  had  tasted  blood.     Prince  Pamodanofsky 

1  Kotoshikhin,  writing  in  the  time  of  the  Tsar  Alexis,  said  that  there  were 
fifty  executioners  in  Moscow,  and  that  none  of  them  was  ever  idle. 

'-'  The  diaiy  of  Korb  is  excellent  authority  for  the  details  of  the  tortures 
and  executions.  It  is  to  be  corrected  in  some  respects  by  the  official  reports. 
But  it  cannot  be  read  without  horror.  It  was  published  in  1 700  at  Vienna ,  with 
the  imperial  privilege  for  copyright.  The  book  was  offensive  to  Peter,  and 
the  privilege  was  wrongly  interpreted.  On  the  request  of  the  Tsar  many 
copies  were  destroyed,  and  scarcely  a  dozen  are  now  known  to  exist.  It  is 
accessible  in  an  English  translation  by  Count  MacDonnell  (Diary  of  an  Aus- 
trian Secretary  of  Legation),  which  I  have  quoted  after  verifying  it  with  a 
copy  of  the  original  in  the  library  at  Frascati,  founded  by  the  Cardinal  Duke 
of  York. 


330  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

seems  to  have  excelled  everyone  in  Russia  as  a  criminal  judge. 
Jle  could  even  rival  Jeffreys.  Once  the  anger  of  Peter,  then 
in  Holland,  was  aroused  by  Jacob  Bruce  coming  to  him  with 
scars  which  lie  ascribed  to  the  fire-torture  of  Ramodan6fsky. 
Peter  put  an  angry  postscript  to  a  letter  he  wrote:  'Beast! 
How  l.mg  are  you  going  to  burn  people?  Even  here  people 
have  come  wounded  by  you.  Cease  your  acquaintance  with 
Ivashka,  or  it  will  be  taken  out  of  your  wretched  skin.'  Bamo- 
danofsky,  in  justifying  his  treatment  of  Bruce,  defends  himself 
from  the  charge  of  drunkenness,  for  which  he  says  he  has  no 
time,  and  leaves  that  to  Peter : 

'I  have  no  time  to  keep  acquaintance  with  Ivashka.  I  am 
alu'taj*  washing  myself  in  Mood.  It  is  your  affair  in  your  lei- 
sure to  keep  up  acquaintance  with  Ivashka,  but  we  'have  no 
leisure.' 

It  is  hard  to  conceive  how  a  man  of  the  natural  good 
humour  and  good  disposition  of  Peter,  especially  impulsive  as 
he  was,  could  lend  himself  to  such  excesses.  It  shows  what 
remarkable  obstinacy  and  strong  will  he  had  when  following  a 
fixed  idea.  At  the  same  time,  it  leads  us  to  reflect  with  what 
responsibility  a  man  is  weighted  m-Iio  uses  an  authority  over 
millions  in  this  way  to  carry  out  ideas  in  which  few  besides 
himself  believe. 

While  the  examinations  were  going  on  at  Moscow,  the  six- 
regiments  of  Streltsi  at  Azof  had  become  excited  over  the  news 
of  the  rebellion  of  their  comrades,  and  showed  signs  of  acting 
in  a  like  manner.  They  were  insubordinate  ;  they  complained 
bitterly  of  being  kept  so  long  away  from  home,  of  the  hard 
work  they  did  on  the  fortifications,  and  especially  of  the  bad 
treatment  they  met  with  from  the  foreign  officers.  Amono- 
them  were  men  who  had  taken  part  in  the  rebellion  of  Stenka 
Bazin,  and  many  wished  those  times  to  return.  They  threat- 
ened, with  the  help  of  the  Don  Cossacks,  to  march  back  to 
Moscow,  kill  the  boyars  and  foreigners,  and  assert  their  own 
Mill.  One  of  them  pithily  summed  up  their  complaint  by  say- 
ing :  '  There  are  boyars  in  Moscow,  Germans  in  Azof,  demons 
in  the  water,  and  worms  in  the  earth.'  The  reports  which  sub- 
sequently reached  them  of  the  punishments  of  then-  comrades 
at  Moscow,  after  Peter's  return,  proved  to  them  that  it  was 


THE   STRELTSI   GOING   TO   EXECUTION. 


1699.]  ABOLITION   OF   THE   STRELTSI.  331 

better  to  keep  quiet.  Nevertheless,  investigations  had  already 
begun,  and  they  came  in  for  their  share  of  the  punishment. 

When  the  trials  were  all  over,  a  decree  was  issued  abolish- 
ing the  Streltsi.  Their  houses  and  lands  in  Moscow  were  taken 
from  them,  and  they  were  all  sent  into  exile  in  the  country, 
and  became  simple  villagers.  It  was  strictly  forbidden  to  re- 
ceive them  into  the  military  service  as  soldiers,  and  it  was  for- 
bidden to  protect  or  to  give  assistance  to  the  widows  or  chil- 
dren of  those  who  had  been  executed.  It  was  only  afterward, 
in  1702  and  1704,  when  there  was  every  need  of  troops  against 
the  Swedes,  that  some  regiments  of  soldiers  were  formed  out 
of  the  former  Streltsi. 

The  Streltsi  of  other  towns,  who  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
revolt  of  their  comrades  in  Moscow,  were  continued  in  exist- 
ence, and  subsequently  did  good  service  in  the  Swedish  war. 
After  the  revolt  of  Astrakhan  they  were  also  abolished.1 

1  Ustrialof ,  III. ,  vi.  vii.  viii.  ;  Solovief ,  XIV,  ;  Posaelt,  Lefort ;  Gordon's 
Diary ;  Zheliabitzhky,  Memoirs;  Korb.  Diarinm  Itineris,  Engl.  Transl.  of 
Count  MacDonnell ;  Perry,  State  of  Russia  ;  Sadler,  Peter  der  Grosse. 


XXXIV. 

THE   TSARITSA  IS   SENT   TO  A  CLOISTER. 

We  have  already  said  that  Peter  did  not  visit  his  wife  on 
his  arrival  at  Moscow.  He  at  once  took  steps  to  have  her  re- 
moved to  a  convent,  and  made  inquiries  as  to  why  his  previous 
orders  on  the  subject  had  not  been  obeyed.  Monks  and  nuns 
were  dead  to  the  world,  and  to  force  a  wife  to  take  the  veil  in 
a  convent  was,  in  those  days,  the  customary  method  of  divorc- 
ing her.  Peter  had  long  wished  for  a  separation,  and  had  re- 
solved on  this  plan.  Hints  of  it  had  got  out,  and  his  inten- 
tions were  gossiped  about  in  letters  to  Leibnitz  and  others. 
The  Tsar  had  written  from  London  to  Streshnef,  to  Leo 
Xarvshkin,  and  to  her  confessor,  to  persuade  the  Tsaritsa  vol- 
untarily to  take  religious  vows.  She  obstinately  refused  to 
comply.  On  returning  to  Amsterdam,  Peter  renewed  his  re- 
quest, and  this  time  pressed  Ramodanofsky  to  use  his  influence. 
The  Patriarch  excused  himself  to  the  Tsar  for  having  accom- 
plished nothing,  and  laid  the  blame  on  several  priests  and 
boyars  who  had  hindered  it.  Peter  at  last  had  a  personal  in- 
terview with  his  wife  in  the  house  of  Yinius,  and  argued  with 
her  for  four  hours.  /Three  weeks 'afterward,  the  Tsarevitch 
Alexis,  now  nearly  nine  years  old.  was  taken  from  his  mother 
and  confided  to  the  care  of  Xatalia  at  Preobrazhensky.  The 
Tsaritsa  Eudoxia.  willingly  or  unwillingly,  was  put  into  a  com- 
mon post-cart,  and  taken  without  suite  or  attendants  to  the 
Pokrofsky  convent,  at  Suzdal,  where  ten  months  afterward,  by 
a  decree  of  the  Tsar,  she  was  forced  to  take  the  veil  under  the 
name  of  the  nun  Helen. 

Once  there,  Peter  seemed  to  forget  all  about  her.  So- 
phia and  Martha  still  received  the  same  income  as  the  other 
princesses,  and  were  allowed  to  have  personal  attendants,  while 


1698.]  THE   TSAKITSA    EUDOXIA.  H'S3 

no  money  was  sent  to  Eudoxia,  all  her  servants  were  taken 
from  her,  and  she  was  reduced  to  the  condition  of  a  simple 
nun.  At  times  she  was  really  in  want,  and  had  recourse  to 
her  brother  Abraham  Lopukhin  and  his  wife.  In  one  of  her 
secret  letters,  she  asks  them  to  send  her  some  wine  and  fish. 
'Although  I  do  not  drink  myself,'  she  wrote,  'yet  I  must  have 
something  to  offer  to  people.  Here  there  is  nothing  at  all ; 
everything  is  bad.  Although  I  am  very  troublesome  to  you, 
yet  wrhat  am  I  to  do?  While  I  am  alive  kindly  give  me  drink 
and  food,  and  clothe  me.'  Her  family  was  generous  to  her, 
and  the  Tsaritsa  did  not  long  keep  the  veil  or  the  attire  of  a 
mm,  and  in  throwing  them  off  she  also  threw  off  the  special 
virtues  of  the  cloister.  She  lived  in  a  cell  arranged  in  worldly 
style,  wearing  the  attire  and  the  diadem  of  a  Russian  princess, 
enjoying  the  friendship  and  intimacy  of  some  of  the  people  of 
the  vicinity  as  well  as  of  a  major  on  recruiting  service  there, 
visiting  the  neighboring  convents,  and  exchanging  secret  corre- 
spondence with  her  family  and  others.  Strangely  enough,  so 
little  thought  was  taken  of  her  by  Peter,  that  all  this  remained 
unknown  to  him,  or  at  least  unnoticed  by  him,  for  nearly 
twenty  years.  She  never  lost  the  hope  of  being  recalled  to 
Moscow.  In  1703,  she  wrote  to  Streslmef :  'Have  mercy  on 
me,  a  poor  woman  ;  beg  our  Lord  for  grace.  How  long  must  I 
live  thus  without  seeing  him  or  my  son,  or  hearing  from  him? 
This  is  now  my  fifth  year  of  misery,  and  my  Lord  shows  no 
mercy.  Petition  my  Lord  to  let  me  hear  of  his  health,  and  to 
see  my  relations.'  After  twenty  years  we  shall  meet  with  her 
again. 

The  exact  cause  of  the  separation  of  Peter  from  his  wife  is 
unknown.  There  apparently  was  no  one  charge  imputed  to 
her,  although  Peter  long  afterward  speaks  of  her  as  having 
been  made  a  nun  on  account  of  her  '  opposition  and  suspicions.' 
What  is  perfectly  wrell  known  is  that  the  marriage  had  not 
been  one  of  love  on  Peter's  part,  that  Eudoxia  was  without 
education,  and  adhered  to  the  old-fashioned  ways  in  which  she 
had  been  brought  up,  and  that  she  hated  foreigners,  especially 
Lefort,  and  those  whom  Peter  liked  the  most.  It  is  always 
dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  family  when  a  \xii e  endeavors  to 
alienate  her  husband  from  his  friends.    To  this,  Eudoxia  added 


334  PETEK  THE   GEE  AT. 

jealousy,  and  Peter  knew  that  he  was  not  blameless.  Her 
attempted  interference  with  his  friendships  and  amusements 
made  him  angry  ;  her  jealousy  and  suspicions  of  his  relations  m 
the  German  suburb  annoyed  him  ;  her  marks  of  affection,  her 
letters,  and  her  attempts  to  keep  or  regain  his  love  wearied. 

him. 

With  the  German  goldsmith's  daughter,  Anna  Mons,  who 
was  the  cause  of  Eudoxia's  jealousy,  Peter's  relations  became 
daily  more  open  and  public.  Together  with  the  Tsar,  she  stood 
as  sponsor  at  the  christening  of  a  son  of  the  Danish  Envoy,  and 
on  her  birthday  the  Tsar  dined  at  her  mothers  house.  She 
was  very  pretty,  fairly  well  educated,  bright  and  quick  in  con- 
versation, and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  she  might 
have  succeeded  in  supplanting  the  Tsaritsa  on  the  throne  as 
well  as  in  the  Tsar's  affections,  had  it  not  been  that  she  some- 
times exercised  her  power  too  plainly,  that  she  was  grasping, 
ever  eager  for  money  and  presents,  and  used  her  f avour  to  push 
forward  her  own  relations  and  friends.  A  handsome  house, 
almost  a  palace,  was  built  for  her,  and  a  fine  and  productive  es- 
tate given  to  her.  Her  relations  with  Peter  continued  unin- 
terruptedly until  the  end  of  1703,  when  Peter  for  the  first  time 
met  the  Esthonian  girl,  Catherine,  who  subsequently  became 
Empress.  Thinking,  perhaps,  that  she  would  attach  the  Tsar 
more  firmly  to  herself  by  making  him  jealous,  Miss  Mons 
began  to  coquet  with  the  Prussian  Minister  Kayserling,  who 
fell  deeply  in  love  with  her,  and,  proud  to  be  a  rival  of  the 
Tsar,  offered  to  marry  her.  Seeing  that  she  was  losing  the 
Tsar's  affections,  and  wishing  to  establish  herself,  she  was 
ready  to  accept  this  proposal,  and  asked  the  Tsar's  consent,  not 
in  person,  but  through  Menshikof,  who  disliked  her,  and  was 
putting  Catherine  forward  with  ends  of  his  own  in  view. 
Peter  was  indignant,  revoked  the  grant  of  her  estate,  and  took 
away  his  portrait  set  in  diamonds,  saying  that  she  could  have 
no  further  use  for  it,  as  she  had  preferred  a  wretched  slave  to 
the  original.  Together  with  her  mother  and  her  sister,  she  was 
placed  under  arrest  in  her  own  house.  Two  years  later,  when 
Peter's  anger  had  somewhat  cooled  down,  the  members  of  the 
Mons  family,  although  still  nominally  under  arrest,  were  al- 
lowed to  visit  the  Lutheran  church,  and  were  shortly  afterward 


ANNA   MONS.  335 

given  full  liberty.  In  1707,  at  Lublin,  at  a  banquet  given  by 
Prince  Mensliikof  on  Peter's  name's  day,  Kayserling,  whose 
love  was  still  ardent,  and  who  was  still  desirous  of  the  marriage, 
tried  to  persuade  the  Tsar  to  take  her  brother,  Wilhelm  Mons, 
into  the  military  service. '  Peter  had  been  in  very  good  hu- 
mour, but  no  sooner  was  the  name  of  Mons  mentioned  than  he 
flew  into  a  passion,  and  said :  '  I  educated  the  girl  Mons  for 
myself,  with  the  sincere  intention  of  marrying  her,  but  since 
she  was  enticed  and  inveigled  away  by  you,  I  do  not  want  to 
hear  or  know  about  her  or  any  of  her  relations.'  Kayserling 
undertook  to  defend  her,  when  Mensliikof,  taking  the  side  of 
the  Tsar,  expressed  strong  opinions  about  her.  Both  got  angry, 
Mensliikof  gave  Kayserling  a  blow  on  the  breast,  and  Kayser- 
ling slapped  Mensliikof 's  face,  while  vile  epithets  were  used  on 
both  sides.  Kayserling,  finding  his  sword  gone,  tried  to  retreat, 
but,  as  usual  at  feasts  of  this  kind,  the  doors  were  locked.  « 
The  Tsar,  who  after  trying  to  reconcile  them  had  left  the  room, 
came  back  and  asked  Kayserling  what  he  was  plotting,  and 
whether  he  were  not  trying  to  fight.  '  I  myself  am  plotting 
nothing,'  Kayserling  answered,  '  and  cannot  fight  because  they 
have  taken  away  my  sword;  but  if  I  do  not  receive  the  satis- 
faction I  desire  from  your  Majesty,  I  am  ready  in  any  other 
place  to  fight  with  Prince  Mensliikof.'  Peter  then  exclaimed 
that  he  would  fight  Kayserling  himself,  and  drew  his  sword, 
as  did  also  Mensliikof.  Shafirof  threw  himself  in  front  of 
them,  and  begged  them  not  to  touch  the  Minister.  The  by- 
standers, to  protect  Kayserling,  pushed  him  out  of  the  room, 
but  the  soldiers  who  guarded  the  door,  out  of  excess  of  zeal, 
gave  him  a  good  drubbing.  The  Minister,  in  spite  of  mes- 
sages from  Peter  and  Mensliikof,  reported  this  accident  to  his 
sovereign  and  demanded  ample  satisfaction  ;  but  it  did  not  suit 
the  King  of  Prussia  to  quarrel,  and  the  matter  was  arranged. 
Kayserling  wrote  most  humble  letters  of  apology  to  the  Tsar 

1  Wilhelm  Mons  subsequently  entered  the  Kussian  service  and  became 
Court  Chamberlain.  He  embittered  the  last  days  of  the  Tsar  by  an  intrigue 
with  the  Empress  Catherine,  for  which  he  was  executed  in  1724.  This  was 
not  the  last  time  the  Mons  family  caused  trouble  to  the  Tsars.  A  niece  of 
Anna  and  Wilhelm  married  a  cousin  of  the  Tsaritsa  Eudoxia  ;  both  were  ac- 
cused of  plotting  against  the  Empress  Elisabeth  (the  daughter  of  Peter  and 
Catherine),  and  both  were  sent  into  exile  in  Siberia  in  1743. 


•,YM)  PETEE  THE   GREAT. 

and  to  Menshikof,  in  which  he  ascribed  the  whole  affair  to  a 
drunken  misunderstanding.  A  few  days  later  he  had  a  public 
reconciliation  with  Menshikof.  Peter,  taldng  Kayserling  aside, 
said  to  him:  'As  God  knows  my  soul,  I  am  right  sorry  for 
wh.it  has  happened,  but  we  were  all  "full,"  and  now,  thank 
God!  all  is  over  and  settled.'  Two  of  the  guards  who  had 
struck  Kayserling  were  condemned  to  death  after  Kayserling 
had  agreed  to  pardon  them.  Kayserling  reported  that  he  had 
received  the  'most  complete  satisfaction,'  and  in  1711  married 
Miss  Mons,  and  died  on  his  wedding  journey  to  Prussia.  With 
the  exception  of  the  incident  just  recounted,  Anna  Mons  disap- 
pears from  Peter's  life  after  1704,  and  wdiile  preparing  for  a 
second  marriage — this  time  with  a  Swredish  captain,  a  prisoner 
of  war — she  died  in  the  foreign  suburb  of  Moscow  in  1714.' 


1  Ustrialof,  III.,  vii. ;  Esipof,  Life  of  Prince  Menshikof ,  in  Russian  Archives 
for  1875  ;  Semefsky,  The  Mons  Family,  Moscow,  1862;  id.  Avdotia  Lopukhin 
in  Russian  Messenger  for  1859  ;  Alex.  Gordon,  History  of  Peter  the  Great, 
Aberdeen,  1755. 


XXXV. 

FOREIGN   FASHIONS   AND   FIRST   REFORMS. 

The  report  of  the  Tsar's  arrival  spread  quickly  through 
Moscow,  and  all  the  boyars  and  chief  Muscovites  hastened  to 
Preobrazhensky  early  the  next  morning  to  pay  their  court. 
Korb  says : 

'  The  Tsar  received  all  that  came  with  an  alacrity  that 
showed  as  if  he  wished  to  be  beforehand  with  his  subjects  in 
eagerness.  Those  who,  according  to  the  fashion  of  that  coun- 
try, would  cast  themselves  upon  the  ground  to  worship  Majesty, 
he  lifted  up  graciously  from  their  grovelling  posture  and  em- 
braced with  a  kiss,  such  as  is  only  due  among  private  friends.  If 
the  razor,  that  plied  promiscuously  among  the  beards  of  those 
present,  can  be  forgiven  the  injury  it  did,  the  Muscovites  may 
truly  reckon  that  day  among  the  happiest  of  their  lives.  Shein, 
general-in-chief  of  the  Tsar's  troops,  was  the  first  who  submitted 
the  encumbrance  of  his  long  beard  to  the  razor.  Xor  can  they 
consider  it  any  disgrace,  as  their  sovereign  is  the  first  to  show  the 
example.  Xor  was  there  anybody  left  to  laugh  at  the  rest.  They 
were  all  born  to  the  same  fate.  Nothing  but  superstitious  awe 
for  his  office  exempted  the  Patriarch.  Prince  Michael  Tcherka- 
sky  was  let  off  out  of  reverence  for  his  advanced  years,  and  Ti- 
khon  Streshnef  out  of  the  honor  due  to  one  who  had  been  guar- 
dian to  the  Tsaritsa.  All  the  rest  had  to  conform  to  the  guise  of 
foreign  nations,  and  the  razor  eliminated  the  ancient  fashion.' 

Five  days  afterward,  on  the  Russian  first  of  September, 
there  was  a  feast  at  Shein's. 

'A  crowd  of  boyars,  scribes,  and  military  officers  almost  in- 
credible was  assembled  there,  and  among  them  were  several 
common  sailors,  with  whom  the  Tsar  repeatedly  mixed,  divided 
apples,  and  even  honoured  one  of  them  by  calling  him  his 
Vol..  I.— 22 


338 


PETER   THE   GREAT. 


brother.  A  salvo  of  twenty-five  guns  marked  each  toast.  Nor 
could  the  irksome  oflices  of  the  barber  check  the  festivities  of 
the  day.  though  it  was  well  known  he  was  enacting  the  part  of 
jester  by  appointment  at  the  Tsar's  court.  It  was  of  evil  omen 
to  make  show  of  reluctance  as  the  razor  approached  the  chin, 
and  was  to  be  forthwith  punished  with  a  box  on  the  ears.  In 
this  way,  between  mirth  and  the  wine-cup,  many  were  admon- 
ished by  this  insane 


ridicule  to  abandon 


the  olden  guise.' 

To  the  orthodox, 
old-fashioned  Rus- 
sian, the  beard  was 
then  as  sacred  as  it 
is  now  to  a  Turk, 
or  as  the  queue 
is  to  a  Chinaman. 
The  Patriarch 
Adrian,  shortly 
after  his  accession, 
had  promulga- 
ted a  fulminating 
edict  against  all 
who  were  so  irre- 
ligious, unholy,  and 
heretical  as  to 
shave  or  cut  their. 
beards,  an  orna- 
ment given  by 
God,  and  which 
had  been  worn  by 
all  the  holy  prophets  and  apostles,  and  by  the  Saviour  himself. 
Only  such  men  as  Julian  the  Apostate,  Heraclius  the  Heretic, 
Constantine  the  Iconoclast,  Olgerd  the  Idol-worshipper,  and 
Amurath  the  Mussulman,  had  forced  their  subjects  to  shave, 
while  Constantine  the  Great,  Theodosius  the  Great,  and  Vladimir 
the  Great  had  all  worn  beards.1    Peter,  in  his  eagerness  to  adopt 


A  Contemporary  Caricature. 


See  also  page  205. 


1698.] 


BEAKD   SHAVING. 


339 


the  usages  of  Western  Europe,  chose  to  consider  the  beard  as 
the  symbol  of  what  was  uncivilised  and  barbarous.  He  was 
not  content  with  repealing  the  decree  of  Alexis,  and  saying  that 
his  subjects  might  shave,  but  he  said  that  they  must  shave. 
For  Peter  himself  it  was  easy ;  he  had  little  beard,  and  even 
his  moustache,  which  he  allowed  to  grow,  was  always  very 
thin.  What  had  begun  in  jest  was  soon  done  in  earnest.  De- 
crees were  issued  that  all  Russians,  the  clergy  excepted,  should 
shave,  but  those  who  preferred  to  keep  their  beards  were  al- 
lowed to  do  so  on  condition  of  paying  a  yearly  tax,  fixed  at  a 
kopek  (two  cents)  for  the  peasantry,  and  varying  from  thirty  to 
a  hundred  rubles  (from  $60  to  $200,  a  ruble  being  worth  at 
that  time  about  $2)  for  the  other  classes,  the  merchants,  as  be- 
ing the  richest  and  most  conservative,  paying  the  highest  sum. 
On  the  payment  of  this 
duty   they   received    a 

bronze  token,  which  they  jjtjr  -^^  "*§w\  /4£fTTini^ 
were  obliged  always  to 
wear  about  their  necks, 
and  to  renew  yearly.1 
Many  were  willing  to  pay 
this  very  high  tax  in  order 

J  o  Token  for  Beard   Duty. 

to  keep  their   beards,  but 

most  conformed  to  the  Tsar's  wishes,  some  through  policy,  some 
through  '  terror  of  having  their  beards  (in  a  merry  humour) 
pulled  out  by  the  roots,  or  taken  so  rough  off,  that  some  of  the 
skin  went  with  them.'/  The  Tsar  would  allow  no  one  to  be 
near  him  who  did  not  shave.     Perry  writes  : 

'  About  this  time  the  Tsar  came  down  to  Voronezh,  where 
I  was  then  on  service,  and  a  great  many  of  my  men  who  had 
worn  their  beards  all  their  lives  were  now  obliged  to  part  with 
them,  amongst  whom  one  of  the  first  that  I  met  with,  just  com- 
ing from  the  hands  of  the  barber,  was  an  old  Puss  carpenter 


1  Although  the  restrictions  on  the  wearing-  of  beards  by  the  peasantry  and 
the  middle  classes  soon  disappeared,  yet,  until  the  accession  of  Alexander  II., 
all  public  officials  were  obliged  to  be  shaved.  This  gradually  became  relaxed 
in  practice,  but  it  was  only  in  the  year  1875  that  a  decree  was  issued  permit- 
ting the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army,  except  the  Imperial  Guard,  to  wear 
their  beards  when  in  service. 


340  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

that  had  been  with  me  at  Camisbinka,  who  was  a  very  good 
workman  with  his  hatchet,  and  whom  I  always  had  a  friend- 
ship for.  I  jested  a  little  with  him  on  this  occasion,  telling 
him  that  he  was  become  a  young  man,  and  asked  him  what  he 
had  done  with  his  beard.  Upon  which  he  put  his  hand  in  his 
bosom  and  pulled  it  out  and  showed  it  to  me;  further  telling 
me  that  when  he  came  home,  he  would  lav  it  up  to  have  it  put 
in  his  coffin  and  buried  along  with  him,  that  he  might  be  able 
to  srive  an  account  of  it  to  St.  Nicholas,  when  he  came  to  the 
other  world,  and  that  all  his  brothers  (meaning  his  fellow-work- 
men who  had  been  shaved  that  day)  had  taken  the  same  care.' 

Soon  after  compelling  his  courtiers  to  shave  their  beards, 
Peter  began  a  crusade  against  the  old  Russian  dress.  On 
October  9,  Lefort  and  Golovin,  the  only  two  members  of  the 
Great  Embassy  then  in  Moscow,  entered  the  town  in  solemn 
state. 

•  No  one  was  allowed  to  appear  except  in  German  dress, 
which  was  especially  meant  to  irritate  Prince  ftamodanofsky 
with  the  sight  of  what  he  liked  not,  for  when  it  was  told  to 
him  that  the  ambassador  Golovin  had  put  on  the  German  dress 
at  Vienna,  he  answered :  "  I  do  not  believe  Golovin  to  be  such 
a  brainless  ass  as  to  despise  the  garb  of  his  fatherland.'' : 

A  few  months  afterward,  Peter  himself  gave  a  carnival 
entertainment,  at  which  the  boyar  Sheremetief,  who  had  just 
returned  from  his  visit  to  Italy,  appeared  in  full  foreign  dress, 
wearing  the  cross  of  Malta,  which  many  envied  him.  The 
Tsar  cut  off,  with  his  own  hands,  the  sleeves  of  some  of  his 
officers  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  too  long.  lie  said :  '  See, 
these  things  are  in  your  way.  You  are  safe  nowhere  with 
them.  At  one  moment  you  upset  a  glass,  then  you  forgetfully 
dip  them  in  the  sauce.  Get  gaiters  made  of  them.'  On  Janu- 
ary 14,  1700,  appeared  a  decree  commanding  all  the  courtiers 
and  the  officials,  as  well  in  the  capital  as  in  the  provinces,  to 
wear  nothing  but  foreign  clothing,  and  to  provide  themselves 
with  such  suits  before  the  end  of  the  carnival.  This  decree 
had  to  be  repeated  frequently  throughout  the  year,  and  models 
of  the  clothing  were  publicly  exposed.  According  to  Perry, 
these  patterns  and  copies  of  the  decree  were  hung  up  at  all  the 
gates  of  the  towns,  and  all  who  disobeyed  these  orders  were 


1700.]  CHANGE   OF   COSTUMK.  o41 

obliged  either  to  pay  a  fine,  or  'to  kneel  down  at  the  gates  of 
the  city,  and  have  their  coats  cut  off  just  even  with  the  ground, 
so  much  as  it  was  longer  than  to  touch  the  ground  when  they 
kneeled  down,  of  which  there  were  many  hundreds  of  coats 
that  were  cut  accordingly;  and  being  done  with  a  good  humour, 
it  occasioned  mirth  among  the  people  and  soon  broke  the  cus- 
tom of  their  wearing  long  coats,  especially  in  places  near  Mos- 
cow and  those  towns  wherever  the  Tsar  came.'  As  this  decree 
did  not  affect  the  peasantry,  it  was  less  difficult  to  put  it  into 
execution.  Even  the  women  were  compelled  to  adopt  foreign 
fashions,  and  to  give  up  the  old  Russian  costumes.  Peters  sis- 
ters set  the  example.  Here  the  women,  as  might  perhaps  be  ex- 
pected, were  less  conservative  than  the  men.  They  saw,  in  the 
adoption  of  foreign  fashions  of  dress,  a  great  opening  to  variety 
of  costume.  Decrees  were  even  issued  against  high  Russian 
boots,  against  the  use  of  Russian  saddles,  and  even  of  long  Rus- 
sian knives. 

There  is  no  absolute  and  real  connection  between  costume 
and  civilisation.  Shaved  faces  and  short  garments  made  the 
Russians  no  more  civilised  and  no  more  European  than  they 
were  before,  although  they  made  them  conform  in  one  respect 
to  the  usages  of  civilised  people.  It  is  the  natural  spirit  of  imi- 
tation, the  desire  not  to  be  different  from  the  rest  of  the  civil- 
ised world,  that  induces  peoples  rising  in  the  scale  of  civilisation 
to  adopt  the  fashion  of  the  garments  of  more  highly  cultured 
nations,  even  though  the  new  costume  may  be  both  unbecom- 
ing and  inconvenient.  This  we  have  seen  in  our  own  day 
among  the  Japanese.  We  see  it  also  in  the  way  peasant  cos- 
tumes constantly  disappear,  and  even  the  neat  white  cap  gives 
place  to  a  tawdry  imitation  of  a  lady's  bonnet,  and  the  comfort- 
able and  convenient  knee-breeches  and  long  stockings  to  the 
awkward  trousers.  At  the  same  time,  there  is  often  a  tendency 
to  see  in  European  dress  something  necessary  to  modern  and 
"Western  life  ;  there  is  a  tendency  to  the  false  reasoning  that  a 
man  becomes  civilised  because  he  wears  European  garments. 
This  tendency  is  sometimes  seen  in  missionaries,  who  immedi- 
ately put  what  they  call  Christian  clothing  on  their  new  con- 
verts, to  the  great  inconvenience  of  the  latter :  and  this  feeling 
seems  to  have  had  some  influence  on  Peter  when  he  changed 


342  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

the  costume  of  Russia  by  an  edict.  \  Only  in  one  way  can  sucli 
an  arbitrary  and  forced  change  be  defended — that  it  might, 
perhaps,  render  the  people  more  ready  to  accept  Western  ideas. 
Jf  they  had  violently  broken  with  the  traditions  of  their  fathers 
in  point  of  costume,  they  might  be  more  easily  led  to  break 
with  them  in  other  respects.!  Still,  even  without  decrees  of 
this  kind,  had  people  been  left  free  to  dress  as  they  liked,  as 
European  notions  and  European  habits  crept  into  Russia,  the 
change  of  dress  would  naturally  follow.  It  had  been  begun 
before,  and  even  a  forced  change  of  costume  was  no  new  idea. 
Yurv  Kryzhanitch,  the  learned  Serbian  Panslavist,  to  whom  we 
have  referred  several  times  before,  in  his  book  on  Russia,  which 
he  wrote  in  his  exile  at  Tobolsk  from  1660  to  1676,  set  out  a 
project  for  reforming  Russian  costume  of  very  much  the  same 
sort  as  that  adopted  by  Peter.  He  was  in  favour  of  the  same 
violent  measures,  and  had  the  same  abhorrence  to  the  clothing 
of  every  description  worn  by  the  Russians  and  other  Slavs. 
He  accused  it  of  being  effeminate,  uncomfortable,  a  hinderance 
to  work  and  action,  and  a  cause  of  great  and  unwarrantable  ex- 
pense. It  is  true  that  the  Russians  who  appeared  abroad  in 
Russian  clothing  were  laughed  at  in  the  streets,  but  so  now- 
adays is  anyone  stared  at  and  pointed  at  in  London  or  New 
York  who  appears  in  a  costume  different  from  that  ordinarily 
worn.  It  is  only  in  the  East  that  all  costumes  pass  without  re- 
mark. The  fashion  of  dress  is  one  of  the  weak  points  of  the 
highly  cultured  nations,  and  one  on  which  they  are  most  intol- 
erant. It  was  natural  that  Peter,  while  imbibing  foreign  ideas, 
should  in  a  way,  too,  imbibe  foreign  prejudices.  Hence  he  pre- 
ferred a  short  coat  to  a  gown,  a  shaven  chin  to  a  beard,  and  a 
peruke  to  natural  hair.  Even  with  us  it  does  not  require  such 
a  very  long  memory  to  recall  the  time  when  English  and  Ameri- 
cans were  as  fanatical  on  some  points  as  were  the  orthodox 
Russians  of  Peter's  day.  A  full  beard  was  looked  upon  almost 
as  a  mark  of  a  revolutionist  or  a  freethinker,  and  a  moustache 
showed  a  tendency  for  adopting  foolish  foreign  notions  of  all 
kinds.  That  prejudice,  fortunately,  has  passed  away,  and  peo- 
ple nowadays  have  even  come  to  see  that  a  great-coat  down  to 
the  heels,  of  almost  the  same  fashion  as  those  which  Peter  had 
cut  off  at  the  o-ates,  is  more  comfortable  in  a  cold  climate  than 


1699.] 


STAMPED   PAPER. 


343 


a  short  jacket.  The  red  shirt,  the  loose  trousers  tucked  into 
the  high  boots,  and  the  sleeveless  caftan  of  the  peasant,  are 
worn  now  as  a  student  fashion  in  Russia  to  show  Slavophile 
feelings,  and  since  the  time  of  Catherine  II.,  the  fixed  court 
dress  for  Russian  ladies  is  the  old  costume,  which  may  be  seen 
at  the  Winter  Palace  on  any  state  occasion. 

^There  were  some  importations  from  abroad  which  promised 
more  advantage  to 
the  State  than  did 
the  foreign  gar- 
ments and  the 
shaved  faces.  Such 
was  the  introduc- 
tion of  stamped 
paper.  J  This  was 
recommended  by 
Alexis  Kurbatof, 
who  had  travelled 
abroad  with  Boris 
Sheremetief  as  his 
steward  and  treas- 
urer. As  Kurbatof 
was  of  low  birth 
and  yet  was  not  a 
ship-carpenter,  the 
only  way  in  which 
he  could  make  the 
recommendation  to 
the  Tsar  was  to  en- 
close his  project  in 
a  letter,  directed  to 
be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Tsar  without  being  unsealed, 
and  drop  it  on  the  floor  of  one  of  the  public  offices.  This  was 
the  manner  in  which  all  denunciatory  letters  were  delivered, 
and  it  may  be  imagined  that  it  was  a  pleasure  to  Peter  to  find, 
not  an  accusation  of  crime,  but  a  project  for  increasing  the 
revenues  of  the  State.  Kurbatof  was  given  the  rank  of  secre- 
tary, and  was  appointed  chief  of  the  new  municipal  department. 
Peter  had  been  struck  in  Holland  by  the  wealth,  the  com- 


Catherine    II.   in   National   Costume. 


:U4  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

fort,  and  the  independence  of  the  middle  classes ;  by  the  fact 
that  it  was  from  them  that  the  Government  received  the  greater 
part  of  its  revenues,  and  thai  <>n  them  depended  the  welfare  of 
the  State.  '  At  this  time  in  Russia,  the  middle  and  the  commer- 
cial classes,  who  were  small  in  number  and  inhabited  only  the 
towns,  were  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  Voievodes,  or  gover- 
nors, who  (as  was  even  officially  stated  in  the  decree  promulga- 
ting the  reform  we  shall  speak  of)  exhausted  the  patience  and 
the  pockets  of  the  towns-people  by  exactions  of  every  kind — by 
taking  percentages  on  their  bargains,  by  levying  contributions 
in  money  and  in  kind,  and  by  extorting  bribes  to  do  justice  or 
to  prevent  injustice.  Peter  had  seen  that  in  other  countries 
the  towns-people  governed  themselves  by  elected  burgomasters 
and  councillors.  But  even  in  Little  Russia,  such  elective  insti- 
tutions already  existed,  under  the  name  of  the  'Magdeburg 
Right.'  This  it  was  resolved  to  apply  to  the  whole  of  Russia, 
and  in  Moscow,  as  well  as  in  the  other  towns,  /the  merchants 
were  permitted  to  choose  good  and  honest  men,  one  from  every 
guild  or  ward,  who  should  form  a  council  having  charge  of  the 
collection  of  taxes,  of  the  disputes  between  the  citizens,  and,  in 
general,  of  municipal  affairs.  P]ach  of  these  councillors  was  to 
act  in  turn  as  president  for  the  space  of  a  month.  All  of  these 
new  municipal  bodies  were  placed  under  the  charge  of  a  new 
department,  which  had  no  connection  with  the  existing  Minis- 
tries, but  could  report  directly  to  the  Tsar.i  This  foreign  insti- 
tution was  called  by  a  foreign  name,  one  of  the  first  importa- 
tions of  German  terms,  the  Biipnistr  (burgomaster)  Depart- 
ment, or  Ratusha  (fath-haus).  v^s  a  compensation  for  being- 
freed  from  the  exactions  of  the  Yoievodes,  and  for  the  intro- 
duction of  municipal  government,  the  merchants  were  obliged 
for  the  future  to  pay  double  taxes.  J  It  always  takes  time  to  be- 
come accustomed  to  independence  which  has  not  been  given 
gradually,  but  lias  been  thrust  on  a  nation,  and  one  of  the  first 
results  of  the  municipal  institutions  was  that  the  merchants 
elected  rulers  out  of  their  own  body  who  were  as  bad  as  those 
they  supplanted.  Corruption  and  bribery  speedily  found  their 
way  here.  The  first  case  brought  before  the  notice  of  the  Tsar 
— that  of  the  town  of  Venev — was  severely  punished  :  both 
bribers  and  bribe-takers  were  beaten  with  the  knout,  and  sent. 


1699.]  COINAGE.  345 

with  their  wives  and  children,  to  hard  labour  at  Azof.  It  was 
decreed  that  such  offences  should  in  future  be  punished  with 
death;  but  even  that  did  not  avail. 

Shortly  after  the  introduction  of  stamped  paper  and  of 
municipal  councils,  came  another  decree,  which  also  had  refer- 
ence to  the  increase  of  general  prosperity  and  of  the  State 
revenues.  (  That  was  the  re-organisation  of  the  monetary  sys- 
tem. The  only  coins  at  that  time  circulating  in  Itussia  were 
small,  oval  bits  of  silver  called  kopeks  (two  cents),  very  badly 
stamped  with  St.  George  on  one  side  and  the  title  of  the  Tsar 
on  the  other.  The  quality  of  the  silver  and  the  size  of  the 
coin  had  varied  at  different  periods.  I  In  the  time  of  the  Tsar 
Alexis,  an  attempt  was  made  to  reform  the  currency  with  ad- 
vantage to  the  State,  by  diminishing  the  size  of  the  kopek,  and 
at  the  same  time  stamping  copper  coins  of  the  same  size  and 
weight,  and  of  the  same  nominal  value.  The  natural  result  of 
this  was  that  the  silver  all  left  circulation  ;  and,  as  the  real 
value  of  the  copper  was  so  far  below  its  nominal  value,  the 
j:>rice  of  articles  increased  in  the  ratio  of  one  to  fifteen.  The 
dearness  of  provisions  caused  a  riot,  which  was  only  quelled 
with  difficulty  and  with  great  effusion  of  blood.  It  was  found 
necessary  to  return  to  the  old  system.  ({Although  the  kopek 
was  the  only  coin,  yet  accounts  were  kept  in  ruldes,  altyns,  and 
de'ngas;  a  dervga  being  the  half  of  a  A<>2>ek,  an  altyn  being  three 
kopeks,  and  a  ruble  one  hundred  hrpths.  ^  It  was  necessary, 
therefore,  for  the  purposes  of  small  change,  to  use  bits  of 
stamped  leather,  or  to  cut  the  kopeks  into  halves  and  quarters. 
Undeterred  by  the  failure  of  his  father,  ^Peter  resolved  on  a 
rational  reform,  and  began  by  coining  copper  for  the  purposes 
of  small  change,  of  the  same — or  nearly  the  same — real  value 
as  the  silver  ;  it  was  necessary,  therefore,  to  make  a  copper 
kopek  forty-five  times  as  heavy  as  a  silver  one.  Consequently, 
the  copper  pieces,  being  not  tokens  but  actual  coins,  were  of 
very  large  size,  which,  though  inconvenient,  gave  satisfaction  to 
a  primitive  people.  After  the  copper  came  a  gold  coinage  of 
single  and  double  ducats,  with  the  portrait  of  the  Tsar  on  one 
side  and  the  arms  of  Itussia  on  the  other  ;  then  a  silver  coinage 
of  grvoenniks  (ten  kopeks),  quarter  and  half  rubles,  and  finally 
rubles.     In  this  way,  the  new  coinage  was  introduced  without 


346  PETEE  THE   GREAT. 

difficulty,  and  the  old  withdrawn  from  circulation.  In  the  first 
three  years  there  were  coined  in  this  way  over  nine  millions  of 
rubles  ($18,000,000). 

(Another  measure  removed  a  harrier,  though  but  a  slight 
one,  between  Russia  and  the  rest  of  the  world.  The  Russians 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  beginning  the  new  year  on  September 
1  ( it  being  believed  that  the  world  was  created  in  the  autumn, 
when  all  the  fruits  of  the  earth  were  in  perfection),  and  of 
dating  their  years  from  the  beginning  of  the  world.  On 
December  20  (O.S.),  1699,  appeared  a  decree  ordering  the  year 
to  begin  on  January  1,  and  the  date  to  be  that  from  the  birth 
of  Christ,  and  not  from  the  creation  of  the  world — i.e.,  the  year 
was  to  be  1700,  and  not  720S.  It  was  stated  in  the  decree  that 
this  change  was  made  in  order  to  conform  to  the  custom  of 
other  countries,  and  Peter  defended  the  change  to  those  who 
exclaimed  that  the  world  could  not  have  been  created  in  the 
depth  of  winter,  by  desiring  them  'to  view  the  map  of  the 
globe,  and,  in  a  pleasant  temper,  gave  them  to  understand  that 
Russia  was  not  all  the  world,  and  that  what  was  winter  with 
them  was,  at  the  same  time,  always  summer  in  those  places 
beyond  the  equator.'  In  order  to  impress  this  event  on  the 
people,  special  ]Sew  Year  services  were  held  in  all  the  churches, 
the  inhabitants  of  Moscow  were  ordered  to  congratulate  each 
other  on  the  Xew  Year,  evergreens  were  placed  on  the  door- 
posts of  the  houses  and  in  the  corners  of  the  rooms,  fire-works 
and  bonfires  were  lighted  on  the  Red  Place  and  in  the  streets, 
and  there  was  to  be  a  general  illumination  of  private  houses  for 
seven  days.  Feasting  went  on  until  Epiphany,  when  there 
took  place  the  semi-annual  blessing  of  the  river  Moskva. 
Contrary  to  previous  custom,  the  Tsar  did  not  seat  himself 
with  the  Patriarch  on  his  throne,  but  appeared  in  uniform  at 
the  head  of  his  regiment,  drawn  up  together  with  other  troops, 
amounting  to  twelve  thousand  men,  on  the  thick  ice  of  the  river. 
The  new  arms  and  the  brilliant  uniforms  made  an  excellent  im- 
pression. 

It  is  unfortunate  that,  when  this  change  was  made,  the  Gre- 
gorian calendar  was  not  adopted.  But  at  that  time  Protestants, 
as  well  as  Orthodox,  had  a  suspicion  of  the  Gregorian  calen- 
dar as  being  something  peculiarly  Romish  and  Papistical.     It 


1700.]  THE  NEW   CALENDAR.  347 

was  not  finally  adopted  in  England  until  the  year  1752.  For 
various  reasons,  it  has  never  been  found  convenient  to  adopt 
the  new  style  in  countries  where  the  Orthodox  Church  prevails. 
The  chief  objection  is  that  in  this  church  there  are  many  saints' 
days,  and  it  is  feared  that  there  would  be  disturbances  among 
the  ignorant  peasants  and  common  people  if  in  one  year  they 
should  be  suddenly  deprived  of  twelve  days,  for  at  no  period  of 
the  year  could  these  be  taken  together  without  including  some 
great  holidays.  Still,  with  Peter's  fearlessness  and  firmness, 
the  change  would  probably  have  been  made  at  that  time  if  the 
new  style  had  been  in  use  in  England.1 


1  Korb,  Diary  ;  Perry,  State  of  Russia  ;  Gordon's  Diary  ;  Posselt,  Lefort ; 
Ustrialof,  III.,  vii.  ;  Solovief,  xiv.  ;  Russian  Laws,  ii.,  iii.  ;  Bruckner,  Ein 
Kleiderrefoilnprojekt  vor  Peter  dem  Grosscn  in  Russiche  Revue  ;  Kryzhanitch, 
Works,  i. 


XXXVI. 

PETER'S   DEJECTION,    ANGER.    AND   GRIEF. 

X<»  matter  how  pleasant  the  journey  abroad  had  been,  Peter 
was  glad  to  be  again  in  the  society  of  his  friends.  It  was  partly 
that,  and  partly,  perhaps,  the  desire  to  counteract  the  effect  of 
the  trials  and  executions,  that  banquets,  festivities,  and  masquer- 
ades were  given  almost  nightly.  Dinners  Avith  his  friends,  chris- 
tenings and  weddings  in  the  German  suburb,  the  receptions  of 
foreign  ambassadors,  carols  at  Christmas  time,  daily  feasts  at 
the  new  club-house,  called  Lefort's  Palace,  absorbed  all  his  lei- 
sure time.     According  to  Korb — 

'  A  sham  Patriarch  and  a  complete  set  of  scenic  clergy  dedi- 
cated to  Bacchus,  with  solemn  festivities,  the  palace  which  was 
built  at  the  Tsar's  expense,  and  which  it  has  pleased  him  now 
to  have  called  Lefort's.  A  procession  thither  set  out  from  Col- 
onel Lima's  house.  He  that  bore  the  assumed  honours  of  the 
Patriarch  was  conspicuous  in  the  vestments  proper  to  a  bishop. 
Bacchus  was  decked  with  a  mitre  and  went  stark  naked,  to  be- 
token lasciviousness  to  the  lookers-on.  Cupid  and  Venus  were 
the  insignia  on  his  crozier,  lest  there  should  be  any  mistake 
about  what  flock  he  was  pastor  of.  The  remaining  route  of 
Bacchanalians  came  after  him,  some  carrying  great  bowls  full 
of  wine,  others  mead,  others,  again,  beer  and  brandy,  that  last 
joy  of  heated  Bacchus.  And,  as  the  wintry  cold  hindered  their 
binding  their  brows  with  laurel,  they  carried  great  dishes  of 
dried  tobacco-leaves,  with  which,  when  ignited,  they  went  tu  the 
remotest  corners  of  the  palace,  exhaling  those  most  delectable 
odours  and  most  pleasant  incense  to  Bacchus  from  their  smutty 
jaws.  Two  of  those  pipes  through  which  some  people  are  pleased 
to  puff  smoke — a  most  empty  fancy — being  set  crosswise,  served 
the  scenic  bishop  to  confirm  the  rites  of  consecration.' 


1698.]  THE   CARNIVAL.  349 

During  the  carnival,  on  the  very  day  when  a  hundred  and 
eighty-six  Streltsi  were  executed,  there  was  a  feast  at  Lefort's 
house,  with  a  grand  display  of  fire-works,  which  was  witnessed 
by  the  Tsarevitch  and  by  the  Tsar's  sister  Natalia  from  another 
apartment.  The  next  day,  the  envoy  of  Brandenburg  had  a 
solemn  leave-taking,  and  Mr.  de  Zadora-lvesielsky  was  accepted 
as  Resident  in  his  stead. 

'  The  Tsar  commanded  him  to  stay  for  dinner,  which  was 
splendid,  and  at  which  the  envoys  of  foreign  princes  and  the 
principal  boyars  were  also  present.  After  dinner  was  over, 
the  Councillor  Zotof,  who  was  mimic  Patriarch  when  the  Tsar 
wished,  began  giving  toasts,  lie  that  drank  had  on  bended 
knee  for  mockery  to  revere  the  sham  ecclesiastical  dignitary, 
and  beg  the  favour  of  his  benediction,  which  he  gave  with  two 
tobacco-pipes,  set  in  the  shape  of  a  cross.  lie  alone,  of  all  the 
envoys,  withdrew  furtively,  for  he  held  the  sacred  sign  of  our 
( Jhristian  faith  too  holy  to  approve  of  such  jests.  The  same 
prelate  added  to  the  decency  of  the  dancing  by  opening  it  with 
pontificals  and  crozier.  The  inner  apartment,  next  the  room  in 
which  the  festivities  were  going  on,  was  again  occupied  by  the 
Tsarevitch  and  the  Tsar's  sister  Natalia ;  thence  they  saw  the 
dancing  and  all  the  gay  tumult,  the  curtains  with  which  the 
place  was  most  handsomely  decorated  being  drawn  a  little  ;  and 
they  were  only  seen  through  a  lattice  by  the  guests.  The  nat- 
ural beauty  of  the  Tsarevitch  was  wonderfully  shown  off  by  his 
civilised  German  dress  and  powdered  wig.  Natalia  was  escorted 
by  the  most  distinguished  of  the  married  ladies.  This  day,  too, 
beheld  a  great  departure  from  Russian  manners,  which  up  to 
this  forbade  the  female  sex  from  appearing  at  public  assemblies 
of  men,  and  at  festive  gaieties,  for  some  were  not  only  allowed 
to  be  at  dinner,  but  also  at  the  dancing  afterward.  The  Tsar 
had  arranged  to  go  off  to  Voronezh  that  night,  for  which  rea- 
son, as  Carlowitz  was  about  to  return  to  his  sovereign  in  Poland, 
after  a  deal  of  flattering  and  envied  compliments,  he  gave  him 
a  kiss,  telling  him  to  bear  it  to  the  King  as  a  manifest  token  of 
his  everlasting  affection.  He  also  gave  Carlowitz  his  picture, 
exceedingly  rich  set  with  a  profusion  of  diamonds,  a  fruit  of 
that  royal  goodwill  which  Carlowitz  had  managed  to  win.' 

With  the  trouble  in  his  own  family,  with  the  suspicions  that 


350  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

his  step-sister  had  been  plotting  against  his  life,  with  the  numer- 
ous executions,  Peter's  mind  was  in  such  a  state  that  he  could 
not  always  be  quieted  by  dissipation.  At  some  of  these  festi- 
vities he  was  morose,  and  melancholy,  and  dejected;  at  others, 
the  slightest  cause  roused  him  to  anger.  A  few  da}Ts  after  his 
arrival,  at  a  grand  dinner  given  by  Lefort,  the  Tsar  left  the 
room  in  a  rage  with  his  generalissimo  Shein,  with  whom  he 
had  been  warmly  disputing,  and  nobody  knew  what  he  was 
going  to  do.     Korb  relates : 

'  It  was  known  later  that  he  had  gone  to  question  the  sol- 
diers, to  learn  from  them  how  many  colonels  and  other  regi- 
mental officers  that  general-in-chief  had  made  without  refer- 
ence to  merit,  merely  for  money.  In  a  short  time  when  he 
came  back,  his  wrath  had  grown  to  such  a  pitch  that  he  drew 
his  sword,  and  facing  the  general-in-chief,  horrified  the  guests 
with  this  threat :  '  By  striking  thus,  I  will  mar  thy  mal-govern- 
ment.'  Boiling  over  with  well-grounded  anger,  he  appealed  to 
Prince  Pamodanof sky,  and  to  Zotof ;  but  finding  them  excuse 
the  general-in-chief,  he  grew  so  hot  that  he  startled  all  the 
guests  by  striking  right  and  left,  he  knew  not  where,  with  his 
drawn  sword.  Prince  Ramodanof sky  had  to  complain  of  a  cut 
finger,  and  another  of  a  slight  wound  on  the  head.  Zotof  was 
hurt  in  the  hand  as  the  sword  was  returning  from  a  stroke.  A 
blow  far  more  deadly  was  aiming  at  the  general-in-chief,  who 
beyond  a  doubt  would  have  been  stretched  in  his  gore  by  the 
Tsar's  right  hand,  had  not  General  Lefort  (who  was  almost  the 
only  one  that  might  have  ventured  it),  catching  the  Tsar  in  his 
arms,  drawn  back  his  hand  from  the  stroke.  But  the  Tsar, 
taking  it  ill  that  any  person  should  dare  to  hinder  him  from 
sating  his  most  just  wrath,  wheeled  round  upon  the  spot,  and 
struck  his  unwelcome  impeder  a  hard  blow  on  the  back.  He  is 
the  only  one  that  knew  what  remedy  to  apply ;  none  of  the 
Muscovites  is  more  beloved  by  the  Tsar  than  he.  This  man 
so  mitigated  his  ire  that,  threatening  only,  he  abstained  from 
murder.  Merriment  followed  this  dire  tempest:  the  Tsar, 
with  a  face  full  of  smiles,  was  present  at  the  dancing,  and,  to 
show  his  mirth,  commanded  the  musicians  to  play  the  tunes  to 
which  (so  he  said)  he  had  danced  at  his  most  beloved  lord  and 
brother's,  when  that  most  august  host  was  entertaining  exalted 


1699.]  the  tsar's  anger.  351 

guests.  Two  young  ladies  departing  by  stealth  were,  at  an 
order  from  the  Tsar,  brought  back  by  soldiers.' 

In  the  case  of  She'in,  there  was  probably  just  cause  for  the 
Tsar's  anger.  We  learn  that  when  it  was  known  that  the  Tsar 
was  coming  back  so  quickly,  the  astonished  boyars  held  councils 
twice  a  day,  and,  under  threat  of  the  whip,  forced  the  mer- 
chants' clerks  to  make  out  their  accounts  for  them.  The  pro- 
motions of  officers  made  by  She'in  in  the  Tsar's  absence  were 
all  cancelled. 

On  another  occasion,  finding  Menshikof  dancing  with  his 
sword  on,  he  taught  him  to  lay  it  aside  by  cuffing  him  with 
such  force  that  the  blood  spouted  from  his  nose.  At  a  dinner 
at  Colonel  Chambers',  Korb  says : 

'  An  inexplicable  whirlwind  troubled  the  gaieties.  Seizing 
upon  General  Lefort  and  flinging  him  on  the  iloor,  the  Tsarish 
Majesty  kicked  him.  He  that  is  next  to  the  fire  is  nearest  to 
burning.'  On  another  occasion,  in  a  dispute  between  Leo 
Xaiwshkin  and  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn,  the  Tsar  '  loudly  threat- 
ened that  he  would  cut  short  the  dispute  with  the  head  of  one 
or  the  other,  whichever  should  be  found  most  in  fault.  He 
commissioned  Iiamodanofsky  to  examine  into  the  affair,  and 
with  a  violent  blow  of  his  clenched  hand  thrust  back  General 
Lefort,  who  was  coming  up  to  mitigate  his  fury.' 

We  involuntarily  ask  ourselves  the  question  why  Peter, 
whose  presence  was  so  awe-inspiring,  was  so  frequently  obliged, 
then  and  afterward,  to  use  the  stick,  and  to  resort  to  the  per- 
sonal chastisement  of  his  ministers  and  friends.  Much  is  to  be 
explained  by  the  character  of  the  times.  The  nation  was  un- 
developed and  unripe.  Xo  strong  power  nor  strong  will  was 
restrained  by  self-respect  or  by  public  opinion.  Besides  this, 
Peter  had  lowered  himself  in  his  dealings  and  intercourse  with 
his  subjects.  He  had  not  only  thrown  off  the  dignity  and  safe- 
guards which  formerly  surrounded  the  Tsar,  but  he  had  conde- 
scended to  be  the  equal,  if  not  the  inferior,  of  his  subjects,  by 
his  manual  occupations  and  his  love  of  practical  joking.  It 
was  natural,  therefore,  that  even  in  serious  things  his  subjects 
sometimes  forgot  themselves,  and  looked  upon  him  as  their 
equal.  There  are  princes  nowadays  who  have  been  accused  of 
lowering  their  royal  dignity  by  being  too  careless  of  the  com- 


352  PETER    THE   GREAT. 

pany  with  which  they  associated,  but  who  yet  carry  themselves 
in  such  a  way  that  no  man  has  ever  dared  to  take  a  liberty 
with  them.  This  is  the  effect,  partly  of  personal  character, 
and  partly  of  modern  society  and  well-disciplined  and  well-or- 
ganised public  opinion.     In  Peter's  time  this  last  was  lacking. 

It  was  at  Voronezh,  where  Peter  went  three  times  in  the 
first  winter  after  his  return,  where  he  was  away  from  the  so- 
ciety of  Lefort  and  his  friends,  looking  after  his  ships,  that  he 
most  gave  way  to  melancholy  and  despondency.  The  forced 
labour  in  the  ship-yards  was  very  hard  for  the  poor  peasants, 
who  had  to  bring  their  own  hatchets,  and  sometimes  their 
horses,  to  cut  and  float  timber,  and  to  work  at  the  ships  under 
pain  of  death.  The  mortality  was  so  great,  owing  to  bad  sani- 
tary conditions,  that  the  wharves  had  to  be  fenced  in  and 
guarded  to  prevent  desertion.  Runaways,  when  found,  were 
well  beaten,  and  their  wives  and  children  were  cast  into  prison. 
There  was  bribery  and  peculation  among  the  officials,  and  the 
country  as  far  as  Moscow  suffered  from  the  disorder  to  work 
and  the  bad  administration.  Firm  as  was  Peter's  will,  and 
strong  as  was  his  belief  in  himself,  he  even  began  to  doubt 
whether,  after  all,  he  was  on  the  right  road.  lie  wrote  to 
Yinius  on  November  2,  1698,  from  Voronezh:  'Thank  God! 
we  have  found  our  fleet  in  an  excellent  condition,  and  have  ap- 
proved the  magazine.  But  still  a  cloud  of  doubt  covers  my 
mind  whether  we  shall  ever  taste  of  this  fruit,  like  dates, 
which  those  who  plant  never  gather.  However,  we  hope  in 
God  and  in  St.  Paul.  "  The  husbandman  that  laboureth  must 
be  the  first  partaker  of  the  fruit."'  In  another  letter  he  writes: 
'  Here,  by  God's  help,  is  great  preparation ;  but  we  only  wait 
for  that  blessed  day  when  the  cloud  of  doubt  over  us  shall  be 
driven  away.  We  have  begun  a  ship  here  which  will  carry 
sixty  guns/  His  doubts  and  his  hesitations  were  being  rapidly 
driven  away  by  hard  work,  when  he  received  from  Moscow  the 
melancholy  news  of  the  sudden  death  of  General  Lefort.  Le- 
fort had  entertained  the  envoys  from  Denmark  and  Branden- 
burg, on  the  eve  of  their  departure  for  Voronezh,  where  they 
were  going  by  permission  of  the  Tsar,  to  see  his  new  fleet. 
The  banquet  had  lasted  so  long  that  they  had  finished  it  by 
drinking  in  the  open  air,  in  the  cold  of  February.     The  next 


1699.]  DEATH   OF   LEFORT.  353 

day,  Lefort  was  taken  alarmingly  ill  with  a  burning  fever,  and 
died  a  week  after  in  delirium.  The  Tsar  immediately  returned 
from  Voronezh  to  be  present  at  the  funeral.  At  the  news  of 
the  death,  he  burst  into  thick  sobs,  and,  with  a  flood  of  tears, 
broke  out  in  these  words  :  '  Now  I  am  left  without  one  trusty 
man.  lie  alone  was  faithful  to  me ;  in  whom  can  I  confide 
henceforward '. '  lie  frequently  spoke  of  his  loss,  and  years 
after,  when  Alenshikof  gave  an  entertainment  which  was  to  his 
taste,  said:  'This  is  the  first  time  that  I  have  really  enjoyed 
myself  since  Lefort's  death.''  It  is  to  be  mentioned  to  Lefort's 
honour  that,  with  all  the  opportunities  he  had  for  making  him- 
self rich,  he  died  almost  penniless.  The  Tsar  maintained  in  his 
service  Peter  Lefort,  the  nephew  and  steward  of  the  general, 
and  sent  to  Geneva  for  Henry  Lefort,  the  only  son  of  the  de- 
ceased, saying  that  he  always  wished  to  have  one  of  the  name 
near  his  person. 

A  few  months  later,  on  November  29,  1699,  the  Tsar  lost 
another  and  an  older  friend,  with  whom  we  have  had  much  to 
do — General  Gordon.  Peter  visited  him  five  times  during  his 
short  illness,  was  with  him  twice  on  the  last  night,  and  closed 
his  dying  eyes  with  his  own  hand.  The  last  entry  in  Gordon's 
diary  is  on  the  last  day  of  December,  1698,  when,  as  if  antici- 
pating his  death,  he  wrote :  '  In  this  year  I  have  felt  a  sensible 
failing  of  my  health  and  strength — but  Thy  will  be  done,  O 
my  gracious  God  ! ' ' 

1  Korb,    Diary;    Posselt,    Lefort;  Gordon,   Diary;  Veselago,   Sketch  of 
.Russian  Naval  History. 
Vol.  I. -23 


XXXVII. 

A   TRUCE   WITH   TURKEY. 

One  of  the  Great  Embassy,  Prokop  Voznftsyn,  had  been 
left  in  Vienna,  and  was  made  delegate  to  the  Congress  that 
was  to  settle  the  terms  of  peace  with  the  Turks,  and  which 
met  shortly  afterwards  at  ( 'arlowitz,  near  Peterwardein,  on  the 
Danube.  It  was,  as  we  remember,  greatly  against  Peter's  will 
that  he  consented  to  take  any  part  in  the  negotiations,  lie 
was  dissatisfied  that  peace  should  be  made  by  Austria,  for  he 
knew  that  Russia  alone  was  unable  to  cope  with  the  Turkish 
Empire,  which,  in  spite  of  its  recent  defeats,  was  still  strong. 
All  his  efforts  at  ship-building,  so  far  as  they  had  any  national 
importance,  were  in  order  to  create  a  fleet  which  could  fight 
the  Turks  on  their  own  waters,  the  Black  Sea.  lie  objected 
also  to  the  principle  on  which  the  peace  was  to  be  made,  that 
of  the  uti possidetis.  Voznftsyn,  therefore,  had  instructions  to 
insist  not  only  on  keeping  all  that  Pussia  had  acquired  by  force 
of  arms — that  is,  Azof  and  the  forts  on  the  Lower  Dnieper — 
but  also  on  the  cession  of  Kertch.  1  Subsequently,  when  the 
Tsar  found  that  Austria  would,  in  any  event,  make  peace,  he 
instructed  his  envoy,  in  case  the  Turks  were  obstinate,  not  to 
in^i^r  too  strong'ry  on  Kertch,  provided  Azof  and  the  forts  on 
the  Dnieper  could  be  retained!  He  soon  saw  that  the  negotia- 
tions at  Carlowitz  proceeded  foo  quickly  for  him  to  make  any 
effort  at  new  conquests  before  the  conclusion  of  a  treaty.  Aus- 
tria and  Turkey  were  both  sincerely  desirous  of  peace — Austria 
because  she  did  not  wish  to  risk  the  conquests  she  had  gained, 
and  wanted  to  have  her  hands  free,  Turkey  because  the  Sultan 
and  his  Vizier  feared  .-till  further  defeats.  England  and  the 
Netherlands  desired  peace  because  they  foresaw  the  war  of  the 
Spanish  succession,  and  wished  to  use  the  whole  force  of  Aus- 


1698.]  PEACE   OF   CARLO WITZ.  355 

tria  to  counterbalance  that  of  France.  The  Austrian  and  Turk- 
ish commissioners,  assisted  by  the  mediators,  Lord  Paget  and 
Colyer,  in  a  few  secret  cessions,  quickly  established  the  terms 
of  peace,  in  spite  of  all  the  intrigues  of  Voznitsyn.  The  Rus- 
sian envoy  had  at  first  applied  to  the  Austrian  ministry,  and 
then  to  the  Emperor  himself,  asking  that,  on  the  basis  of  the 
treaty  of  1697,  by  which  each  party  bound  itself  not  to  make 
a  separate  peace,  the  overtures  of  the  Turks  should  be  rejected, 
unless  the  Russian  demands  were  satisfied.  Finding  this  of  no 
avail,  he  endeavoured  to  work  on  the  Turks  through  his  old 
acquaintance  Alexander  Mavrocordato,  a  Greek  by  birth,  the 
dragoman  of  the  Porte  and  one  of  the  Turkish  commissioners. 
He  insisted  to  the  Turks  that  this  was  no  time  for  them  to 
make  peace,  as  Austria  would  soon  be  at  war  with  France,  and 
they  would  have  the  chance,  not  only  of  reconquering  all  they 
had  lost,  but,  perhaps,  of  gaming  additional  advantages.  These 
negotiations  were  carried  on  through  the  chaplain  of  Mavrocor- 
dato and  Doctor  Postnikof,  who  had  returned  with  his  doctor's 
diploma  from  Padua.  In  order  to  escape  observation,  they 
took  long  circuits  through  the  plains  surrounding  Carlowitz, 
and  met  at  distant  points.  Mavrocordato  sent  flattering  mes- 
sages, and  willingly  accepted  presents  and  bribes.  When  he 
hinted  that  it  was  cold,  Voznitsyn  sent  him  his  own  embroid- 
ered caftan  lined  with  blue-fox  fur.  In  return  for  the  caviare, 
smoked  fish,  and  salted  sturgeon,  Mavrocordato  gave  tobacco, 
coffee,  pipes,  and  writing-paper.  The  ruse  was  too  transparent ; 
all  were  astonished  that  the  Russian  envoy  should  take  the  side 
of  the  Turks,  and  his  plans  came  to  naught.  The  Turks,  sure 
of  the  peace  with  Austria,  refused  to  make  concessions,  either 
to  the  Poles  or  the  Venetians,  and  demanded  from  the  Russians 
the  evacuation  of  the  Lower  Dnieper.  They  would  hear  noth- 
ing of  the  cession  of  Kertch,  were  with  difficulty  prevailed  upon 
to  allow  Azof  still  to  remain  in  the  Russian  possession,  and 
absolutely  refused  to  give  up  the  Dnieper.  They  wished,  by 
all  means,  to  keep  to  themselves  the  Black  Sea.  Yoznitsvn 
then  brought  forward  the  proposition  which  he  had  held  in 
reserve,  that  a  two  years'  truce  should  be  made,  which  Peter 
thought  would  allow  him  sufficient  time  to  have  his  fleet  in 
readiness  for  active  offensive  operations.     This  the  Turks  re- 


356  PETEE   THE    GKKAT. 

fused,  said  they  had  come  t<>  tonus  with  the  other  powers,  and 
that  they  were  able  to  fight  and  conquer  Russia.  At  this 
Voznitsyn  took  a  firmer  and  more  threatening  attitude,  and 
replied  that  it'  they  wished  war  they  could  have  it.  This  had 
an  effect,  and  before  the  arrival  of  a  new  proposition  from 
Peter  that  the  forts  on  the  Dnieper  should  be  rased  to  the 
•  •round  and  not  he  rebuilt  by  either  side,  Voznitsyn  had  con- 
eluded  a  truce  for  two  years,  in  defending  himself  for  this, 
he  said  that  the  Congress  was  over,  the  treaty  signed,1  and  the 
Turkish  commissioners  could  not  be  found  this  side  of  Constan- 
tinople; that  the  Turks  were  little  disposed  to  cede  anything 
except  what  was  too  far  off  for  them  to  defend  and  maintain, 
as  they  wished  to  use  all  their  strength  in  reconquering  the 
]\Iorea.  He  therefore  advised  Peter,  instead  of  running  the 
chances  of  war,  to  send  a  special  emhassy  to  ( 'onstantinople, 
headed  by  some  man  of  quickness  and  capacity,  to  see  on  what 
terms  the  Turks  were  willing  to  make  peace,  hut  not  to  ask  for 
a  peace,  and  to  refuse  all  terms  inconsistent  with  the  dignity 
and  power  of  Itussia. 

This  advice  Peter  took,  and  appointed  as  his  ambassador 
Emelian  Ukraintsef,  who  had  long  been  in  the  Itussian  Foreign 
Office,  and  had  heen  entrusted  with  several  delicate  and  impor- 
tant negotiations.  In  order  to  give  dignity  to  the  mission,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  impress  the  Turks  with  the  new  naval  power 
of  Itussia,  he  resolved  that  Ckraintsef,  instead  of  prosecuting 
his  journey  by  land,  should  sail  from  Azof  on  a  frigate,  while 
he,  with  all  the  other  ships  disposable,  would  accompany  him  as 
far  as  Kertch.  Golovin  was  made  general-admiral  of  the  fleet, 
and  invested  with  the  insignia  of  the  new  order  of  ^  Andrew,. 
This  order  Peter  created  after  the  model  of  those  decorations  he 
had  seen  in  other  countries.  He  had  found  out  how  convenient 
and  cheap  a  way  this  was  of  rewarding  services  to  the  state. 


1  By  the  Treaty  of  Carlowitz,  which,  after  discussions  lasting  seventy-two 
days,  was  signed  on  January  26,  1699,  Austria  regained  Transylvania,  the 
Banate,  and  all  of  Hungary  northwest  of  the  Theiss  ;  Venice  kept  Dalmatia 
and  the  Morea  ;  and  Poland  received  Kamenetz  and  Podolia,  while  all  tributes 
to  the  Porte  from  these  three  powers,  whether  paid  as  such  or  as  honorary 
presents,  were  done  away  with.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  decadence  of 
Turkey.     From  that  time,  Europe  felt  no  fear  of  the  Turkish  arms. 


1609.] 


EMBASSY   TO   CONSTANTINOPLE. 


357 


On  his  visit  to  Voronezh,  in  the  autumn  of  1698,  Peter 
found  his  infant  ileet  in  a  far  greater  state  of  forwardness  than 
lie  had  expected.  Many  ships  were  already  built  and  armed, 
and  ready  for  a  cruise.  The  magazines  were  full  of  material. 
In  this,  and  in  subsequent  visits,  he  laboured  to  make  good  all 
the  deficiencies,  and  Cruys,  who  had  arrived  from  Holland, 
inspected  all  the  vessels,  and  recommended  that  many  of  them 
be  strengthened,  and  in  part  rebuilt.  Peter  was  glad  to  find 
that  many  of  his  fellow-workmen  at  Amsterdam  and  Deptford 
had  already  arrived,  and  he  himself  set  heartily  to  work,  and 
laid  the  keel  of  a  new  frigate,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  long, 
to  be  called  the  'Pre- 
destination.' By  the 
spring  of  1699,  there 
were  ready  eighty-six 
ships  and  boats  of  all 
kinds,  including 
eighteen  which  car- 
ried from  thirty-six 
to  forty -six  guns,  be- 
sides five  hundred 
barges  for  transport- 
ing provisions  and 
munitions.  The  fleet, 
under  the  command 
of  Admiral  Golovin, 
left  Voronezh  on  May 
7,  and  reached  Azof 
on  June  3.  Peter  went  as  commander  of  the  forty -four-gun 
ship  the  '  Apostle  Peter.'  Cruys,  in  his  journal,  gives  a  full 
account  of  the  voyage,  and  after  describing  the  lovely  country 
through  which  they  passed,  tells,  among  other  things,  how  at 
Panshin,  where  they  arrived  just  in  time  to  prevent  the  assem- 
bled Cossacks  and  Kalmuks  from  coming  to  blows  over  cattle- 
lifting  and  pasturage,  Peter  came  to  see  him,  and  found  his  men 
engaged  in  cleaning  some  tortoises  which  they  had  caught  on 
the  banks  of  the  Don.  The  Tsar  asked  what  they  were  for,  and 
being  told  '  to  make  a  fricassee  for  dinner,'  immediately  ordered 
a  similar  dish  to  be  prepared  for  his  own  table.    Tortoises  were 


The   Apostle   Peter. 


358  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

considered  unclean  animals.  The  Russian  nobles  who  dined 
with  him,  not  knowing  of  what  the  dish  was  composed,  but 
thinking,  from  its  taste,  that  it  was  made  of  young  chickens, 
ate  it  with  satisfaction.  When  the  dish  was  empty,  Peter 
ordered  a  servant  to  bring  in  the  feathers  of  these  excellent 
chickens,  which,  to  the  general  astonishment  and  consternation, 
turned  out  to  be  tortoise-shells.  Most  of  them  laughed  at  the 
joke,  except  Shei'n  and  Soltykof,  who  became  sick  at  having 
eaten  food  so  repugnant  to  all  their  ideas.  Peter  was  fond  of 
practical  jokes  of  this  kind,  and  at  a  supper  at  Moscow,  not  long 
before,  had  seized  Golovin,  who  hated  oil,  and  stuffed  salad 
down  his  throat  till  the  blood  ran  from  his  nose. 

After  inspecting  the  fortifications  at  Azof  and  Taganrog, 
drawing  up  and  correcting  maritime  regulations,  and  trying  the 
qualities  of  the  vessels  in  manoeuvres  and  a  sham  fight,  Peter 
started  for  Kertch  with  all  his  fleet.  The  forty-six-gun  ship 
'  Fortress,'  under  the  command  of  Captain  van  Pamburg,  who 
had  been  engaged  in  Holland,  was  selected  to  take  Ukraintsef 
to  Constantinople. 

Negotiations  with  the  Pasha  of  Kertch  lasted  ten  days. 
First  an  absolute  refusal  was  given  to  the  passage  of  the  ship 
without  orders  from  Constantinople ;  then  a  journey  by  land 
was  recommended.  When  Peter  threatened  to  force  the  pas- 
sage with  his  whole  fleet  in  case  of  an  absolute  refusal,  the 
Pasha  consented,  as  there  were  only  four  Turkish  ships  in  the 
harbour,  but  still  excuses  were  made  on  account  of  the  bad 
weather.  When  it  seemed  that  everything  had  been  arranged, 
Peter  returned  with  his  squadron  to  Taganrog,  and  in  a  few 
days  to  Voronezh.  His  departure  seemed  to  give  the  Turks 
hope  that  they  might  create  new  delays.  Finally,  Ukraintsef 
was  forced  to  give  the  order  for  the  immediate  departure  of  his 
vessel,  in  spite  of  all  the  dangers  that  were  set  before  him  by 
the  Turks,  who  said:  'You  do  not  know  our  sea.  Xot  without 
reason  is  it  called  Black.  In  time  of  danger,  men's  hearts  grow 
black  on  it.'  Refusing  the  request  of  the  Turkish  vessels  that 
convoyed  him,  to  stop  at  Balaklava,  Ukraintsef  directed  his 
course  straight  to  Constantinople,  and  after  sighting  land  at 
Heraclea,  speedily  came  into  the  Bosphorus,  and  anchored  at 
sundown,  on  September  13,  opposite  the  Greek  village  of  Yeni- 


1099.]  EMBASSY   TO   CONSTANTINOPLE.  359 

keui.  A  message  of  congratulation  came  from  the  Sultan,  and 
boats  and  caiques  were  sent  to  take  the  embassy  to  Stambul. 
Ukraintsef,  wishing  to  keep  within  the  spirit  of  his  orders,  re- 
fused to  go  in  the  Sultan's  caiques  unless  the  frigate  preceded 
him.  lie  was  received  at  the  landing-place  by  high  officials 
sent  to  meet  him,  mounted  a  splendidly  caparisoned  horse,  and, 
accompanied  by  an  immense  crowd,  went  to  the  house  prepared 
for  him  near  the  chupch  of  the  Virgin  of  Hope,  at  the  Sand 
Gate,  on  the  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Marmora.  Owing  to  the  fall 
of  the  wind,  the  frigate  had  been  obliged  to  anchor  opposite 
the  Jewish  village  of  Knsgundjik,  near  Scutari,  but  on  the  next 
day  it  took  an  excellent  position  directly  in  front  of  the  palace 
on  the  Seraglio  Point,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Sultan,  the 
ministers,  and  all  the  people.  The  Turks  could  not  understand 
how  such  a  lar^e  vessel  could  get  out  of  the  shallow  mouths  of 
the  Don,  and  were  only  quieted  by  the  belief  that  it  was  flat- 
bottomed  and  mint  for  bad  weather.  They  expressed  their  an- 
noyance at  the  fact  that  so  many  Dutch  and  Englishmen  were 
in  the  Russian  service,  for  they  had  hitherto  considered  those 
nations  to  be  particularly  friendly  to  the  Porte. 

The  boats  of  a  few  Cossack  pirates  had  advanced  as  far  as 
the  mouth  of  the  Bosphorus  ;  but  no  Russian  vessel  had  been 
seen  at  Constantinople  since  the  times  of  the  old  Greek  Empire. 
In  the  tenth  century,  the  early  Russian  princes  had  kept  Con- 
stantinople in  terror  by  their  incursions,  which  had  been  greatly 
magnified  by  patriotic  tradition.  It  is  said  that  Oleg  fitted 
wheels  to  his  ships,  and  drew  them  over  the  peninsula  to  the 
Sea  of  Marmora,  and  hung  his  shield  as  a  defiance  on  the 
Golden  Gate.  His  son,  Igor,  was  less  successful,  and  his  fleet 
was  destroyed  by  Greek  fire,  with  terrible  loss.  But  those  days 
were  long  past,  and  the  exploits  of  Oleg  and  Igor  were  un- 
known to  the  Turks.  To  the  Russians  they  were  kept  alive  by 
popular  songs  and  the  chronicle  of  Xestor. 

The  Russian  frigate  was  visited  by  all  classes  of  the  motley 
population  of  Constantinople,  and  even  by  the  Sultan  himself, 
who  was  greatly  interested  and  carefully  inspected  the  vessel  in 
detail.  Rumours  magnified  the  prowess  and  intentions  of  the 
Russians,  and  it  was  said  that  ten  vessels  had  entered  the  Black 
Sea  and  were  cruising  off  Trebizond  and  Sinope.     A  thought- 


360  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

less  act  of  Captain  Pamburg  added  to  the  general  excitement. 
He  had  invited  to  dinner  a  number  of  his  French  and  Dutch 
acquaintances.  Alter  entertaining  them  till  midnight,  he  fired 
a  salute  of  all  his  guns,  to  the  consternation  of  the  Sultan,  his 
wives,  and  the  whole  city,  who  believed  that  this  was  a  signal 
given  to  the  fleet  of  the  Tsar  to  approach  Constantinople. 
Early  the  next  morning,  the  Grand  Vizier  sent  Mavrocordato 
to  CTkraintsef  to  express  his  displeasure,  and  to  request  the 
punishment  of  the  captain.  If  this  were  refused,  the  Sultan 
ordered  the  captain  to  be  arrested  by  Turkish  troops  and  im- 
prisoned, and  his  ship  to  be  seized  and  towed  up  to  the  Admi- 
ralty. Tkraintsef  replied  that  if  the  salute  had  been  displeas- 
ing to  the  Sultan,  it  would  not  be  repeated;  but  that  lie  had 
no  power  over  the  commander  of  the  vessel.  Matveief,  who 
was  then  at  the  Hague,  reported  that  news  had  come  there 
from  the  Dutch  agent  at  Smyrna,  that  the  Sultan  in  his  anger 
sent  three  hundred  men  to  Captain  van  Pamburg,  to  forbid  his 
firing  again.  Pamburg  declared  to  them  that  they  had  better 
not  attempt  to  board  him,  for  he  would  blow  up  the  ship  the 
moment  they  had  all  reached  the  deck. 

The  conferences  at  Constantinople,  twenty-three  in  all,  be- 
tween Ukraintsef  and  the  secretary  Tcheredeief,  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Reis-Effendi  Mehmed  Rami  and  Mavrocordato, 
the  dragoman  of  the  Porte,  on  the  other,  lasted  from  the  mid- 
dle of  November,  1699,  to  the  end  of  June,  1700.  The  con- 
ditions of  the  Russians — which  at  the  request  of  the  Grand 
Vizier  were  given  in  writing,  in  Latin  and  Russian — were  com- 
posed of  sixteen  articles,  the  chief  of  which  were  that  the  towns 
and  lands  conquered  by  Russia  were  to  be  ceded  to  Russia,  ac- 
cording to  the  principle  of  uti possidetis  accepted  at  the  treaty 
of  Carlowitz;  that  neither  the  Khan  of  the  Crimea,  nor  the 
Tartars  under  his  control,  nor  the  Turks,  should  vex  Russia 
with  incursions,  nor  should,  under  any  pretext,  ask  the  Russian 
Government  for  a  tribute  of  money  or  for  presents ;  that  Rus- 
sian commercial  vessels  should  have  the  right  of  sailing  on  the 
Black  Sea ;  that  the  prisoners  should  be  mutually  exchanged ; 
and  that  the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem  should  be  taken  away 
from  the  Catholics  ami  given  back  to  the  ( Irreeks.  The  disputes, 
the  delays,  the  quibblings  were  endless,  and  at  one  time  the  ne- 


1700.]  THE   BLACK   SEA.  361 

gotiations  were  almost  entirely  broken  off,  and  could  not  be  re- 
newed until  Zherlof  arrived  from  the  Tsar,  bringing  as  a  final 

concession  the  alternative  proposition  that  the  towns  on  the 
Lower  Dnieper  should  remain  in  the  possession  of  Russia  six 
or  seven  years,  and  then  be  rased,  or  that  they  should  be  en- 
tirely destroyed  and  occupied  by  neither  power.  The  Turks 
claimed  that  the  uti  possidetis  basis  was  impossible,  and  had 
actually  been  given  up  in  the  treaty  of  Carlo witz,  as  the  Aus- 
trians,  for  the  purpose  of  simplifying  the  frontier,  had  restored 
some  small  districts  to  Turkey.  They  insisted  on  the  sur- 
render of  the  Lower  Dnieper,  and  refused  to  mention  in  the 
treaty  the  maritime  towns  and  villages  on  the  Sea  of  Azof. 
They  even  refused  to  cede  more  than  the  distance  of  a  cannon- 
shot  from  the  walls  of  Azof,  although  finally  they  granted  sur- 
rounding territory  to  the  distance  of  ten  days'  journey.  Even 
after  the  plenipotentiaries  had  agreed  upon  the  terms  of  the 
treaty,  the  Sultan  for  a  time  refused  to  sign  it,  unless  the  Rus- 
sians consented  to  destroy  all  the  new  forts  which  had  been 
constructed,  such  as  Taganrog,  Pavlofsky,  and  Miiisky,  and  the 
new  fortifications  of  Azof.  With  regard  to  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, the  Sultan  claimed  that  this  was  a  question  entirely  within 
his  jurisdiction,  which  he  could  not  mention  in  the  treaty,  but 
that  if  after  the  treaty  the  Tsar  chose  to  make  representations, 
he  would  doubtless  be  willing  to  oblige  him  in  some  respects. 
Mavrocordato,  who,  after  the  treaty  of  Carlowitz,  had  been 
made  a  Count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and  was  long  the 
guiding  spirit  of  Turkish  diplomacy,  promised  on  his  faith  as 
an  orthodox  Christian  to  assist  in  this  pious  purpose.  It  was 
found  impossible  to  get  any  concession  from  the  Porte  with 
regard  to  the  Black  Sea.  The  Turks  said :  '  The  Black  Sea 
and  all  its  coasts  are  ruled  by  the  Sultan  alone.  They  have 
never  been  in  the  possession  of  any  other  power,  and  since  the 
Turks  have  gained  sovereignty  over  this  sea,  from  time  im- 
memorial no  foreign  ship  has  ever  sailed  its  waters,  nor  ever 
will  sail  them.  More  than  once,  and  even  now,  have  the 
French,  Dutch,  English,  and  Venetians  begged  the  Porte  to 
allow  their  trading  ships  on  the  Black  Sea,  but  the  Porte  always 
has  refused  them  and  always  will  refuse  them,  because  the  sov- 
ereignty of  this  sea  belongs  to  no  one  else  than  the  Sultan.    The 


362  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

Ottoman  Porte  guards  the  Black  Sea  like  a  pure  and  undefiled 
virgin.,  which  no  one  dares  to  touch,  and  the  Sultan  will  sooner 
permit  outsiders  to  enter  his  harem  than  consent  to  the  sailing 
of  foreign  vessels  on  the  Black  Sea.  This  can  only  be  done 
when  the  Turkish  Empire  shall  have  been  turned  upside  down.' 
All  that  could  be  obtained  on  this  point  was  that,  after  the  con- 
clusion of  peace,  the  plenipotentiary  who  should  come  to  Con- 
stantinople for  its  ratification  should  be  empowered  to  engage  in 
negotiations  for  advantageous  and  mutual  commerce.  Ukrain- 
tsef  reported  that  on  this  point  the  Turks  were  rendered  still 
more  obstinate  by  the  advice  of  the  foreign  ministers,  especially 
the  English  and  French,  who  had  great  commercial  interests  in 
the  East,  and  wished  to  reserve  all  the  trade  for  themselves. 
They  therefore  saw  with  jealousy  and  displeasure  the  possibility 
that  the  Russians  might  have  a  commercial  fleet  either  on  the 
Black  Sea  or  at  Archangel.  Ukraintsef  believed  that  the  for- 
eign representatives  did  all  they  could  to  hinder  the  success  of 
his  mission,  even  in  other  respects,  as  they  did  not  desire  that 
Russia  should  get  on  too  friendly  and  intimate  terms  with 
Turkey.  AVith  the  representatives  of  other  powers  the  Russian 
envoy  had  no  intercourse,  except  as  mutual  messages  of  con- 
gratulation and  compliment  were  sent.  The  Porte  kept  him 
under  surveillance,  and  refused  to  allow  him  to  visit  the  for- 
eign legations,  who  lived  at  Galata  in  free  intercourse  with  all 
the  world,  and  they,  in  their  turn,  replied  to  his  pressing  re- 
quest for  aid  in  this  matter,  that  they  were  sure  of  being  re- 
fused by  the  Porte,  and  they  did  not  wish  to  expose  themselves 
to  the  affront. 

At  last  it  was  possible  to  sign  a  thirty  years'  truce — for  the 
Sultan  refused  to  sign  a  permanent  peace  on  the  ground  that 
sufficient  concessions  had  not  been  made  to  him.  The  Turks 
of  that  time  always  preferred  a  truce  to  a  peace.  By  a  truce 
nothing  was  settled,  except  for  the  moment.  The  signers  aban- 
doned no  claims,  and  were  bound  to  nothing.  "When  the  truce 
expired,  all  questions  were  again  open,  as  if  war  had  never 
ceased.  The  chief  articles  of  this  truce  were  that  the  towns  on 
the  Dnieper  were  to  be  destroyed  within  thirty  days,  and  the 
land  on  which  they  stood  returned  to  Turkey  ;  that  Azof  and 
all  its  towns  both  new  and  old,  were  to  remain  in  the  posses- 


1700.]  A   TRUCE   SIGNED.  363 

sion  of  Russia  ;  that  a  belt  of  waste  and  uninhabited  country 
should  separate  the  whole  Crimea  from  the  Russian  dominions ; 
that  the  tribute  and  presents  heretofore  paid  to  the  Tartar 
Ivhan  were  given  up ;  that  prisoners  should  be  exchanged  or 
ransomed  on  honourable  terms ;  that  Russian  pilgrims  should 
be  allowed  to  go  to  Jerusalem  without  being  taxed,  and  Rus- 
sian ecclesiastics  living  in  Turkish  dominions  protected  from 
oppression  and  insult ;  and  that  the  Resident  of  the  Tsar  in 
Constantinople  should  have  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as 
those  enjoyed  by  the  representatives  of  other  Christian  powers.1 


1  Ustrialof,  III.,  ix.  x.  ;  Solovief,  xiv.;  Posselt,  Lefort ;  Bruckner,  Peter 
der  Grosse ;  Yelagin,  History  of the  Russian  Fleet  ;  Veselago,  Russian  Naval 
History  ;  Hammer,  Histoire  de  V Empire  Ottoman,  XII. 


XXXVIII 

THE  LEAGUE  AGAINST   SWEDEN. 

During  the  spring  of  1700,  the  Tsar  was  very  uneasy  at  re- 
ceiving no  favourable  news  from  Constantinople,  for  he  had 
made  engagements  to  declare  war  upon  Sweden,  and  he  saw  the 
favourable  time  passing  by  without  being  able  to  take  advantage 
of  it.  He  could  not  yet  tell  whether  he  might  not  be  obliged  to 
use  all  his  forces  in  the  South,  and,  at  any  rate,  he  did  not  wish 
to  have  two  wars  on  his  hands  at  the  same  time. 

The  idea  of  recovering  for  Russia  the  border  provinces  which 
had  been  seized  by  Sweden  during  the  Troublous  Times,  and 
ever  since  retained,  appears  to  have  come  into  Peter's  mind 
after  his  visit  to  Vienna,  when  he  found  that  the  Emperor  was 
determined  on  making  peace  with  the  Turks.  He  saw  that  it 
would  be  difficult  for  him  to  make  war  alone  against  the  still 
formidable  Ottoman  Empire,  and  now  that  he  had  used  so 
many  exertions  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  fleet,  it  was  neces- 
sary for  him  to  find  a  sea  for  it  to  sail  upon.  Although  he  may 
have  felt  a  passing  anger  at  his  reception  at  Riga,  it  was  so 
completely  effaced  by  what  was  done  for  him  at  Konigsberg 
that  he  did  not  openly  complain  of  it.  His  secret  agreement 
with  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  had,  it  is  true,  been  aimed 
against  Sweden,  but  it  had  been  devised  by  the  Elector  for  his 
own  advantage,  and  had  with  difficulty  been  accepted  by  Peter. 
The  Tsar's  mind  was  then  so  occupied  with  Turkey  and  with 
the  idea  of  getting;  a  harbour  on  the  Black  Sea,  that  he  never 
seemed  to  think  of  moving  in  the  North.  In  Holland  the  Great 
Embassy  had  been  on  the  best  footing  with  Baron  Lilienroth, 
the  Swedish  ambassador  at  the  Ryswyk  Congress.  The  Tsar 
had  been  grateful  for  the  three  hundred  cannon  sent  by  the 
Swedish  King,  and  Lefort  had  shown,  in   his  correspondence 


1698.]  patkul.  365 

with  the  Chancellor  Oxenstjerna,  tlie  desire  of  his  master  to  be 
on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  Sweden.  It  was  not  until 
after  Peter  had  left  Vienna,  and  had  become  intimate  with  the 
King  of  Poland,  that  he  suggested  his  adventure  at  Piga  as  a 
possible  cause  of  war.  Peter  was  young,  and  felt  the  charm  of 
the  finished  man  of  the  world.  In  an  outburst  of  enthusiasm, 
at  a  supper  with  Count  Flenmiing,  Peter  had  promised  Augus- 
tus to  aid  him  against  his  Polish  subjects  if  they  rebelled,  and 
in  return  asked  his  assistance  to  avenge  himself  on  Sweden.  It 
was  a  light  and  trifling  talk  over  the  wine,  about  which  neither 
party  thought  much  at  the  time,  nor,  indeed,  for  months.  For 
a  long  time  after  Peter's  return  to  Russia  he  apparently  had 
not  the  remotest  idea  of  anything  hostile  to  Sweden.  After 
the  lapse  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  Peter  told  of  this 
conversation  in  his  autograph  corrections  of  the  'Journal'  of 
the  Swedish  War. 

In  October,  1698,  there  appeared  at  Warsaw  a  gentleman 
from  Livonia,  Johann  Peinhold  Patkul,  with  a  plan  for  uniting 
the  neighboring  states  in  a  war  against  Sweden.  All  had  suf- 
fered loss  to  the  profit  of  that  country.  JJjLcmia,  as  well  as 
Esthonia  and  Curland,  had  up  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century  belonged  to  the  Order  of  the  Teutonic  Knights.  After 
the  severe  defeats  indicted  on  the  Order  by  Ivan  the  Terrible. 
Esthonia  placed  herself  under  the  protection  of  Sweden,  Cur- 
land became  a  separate  duchy,  the  vassal  of  Poland,  the  islands 
of  Oesel  and  Dago  were  taken  by  the  Danes,  and  Livonia  was 
united  to  the  Grand  Duchy  of  Lithuania,  and  in  that  way 
formed  a  component  part  of  the  Kingdom  of  Poland.  By  a 
royal  privilege  of  Xovember,  1561,  Sigismund  II.  (Augustus) 
granted  to  Livonia  religious  freedom  and  self-government,  and 
guaranteed  the  nobility  in  the  possession  of  all  their  estates. 
The  attempts  of  the  subsequent  Polish  kings  to  introduce  the 
Polish  language  and  laws  and  the  Catholic  religion,  caused  great 
dissatisfaction  in  that  province,  which  revolted  and  called  in  the 
Swedes.  After  a  long  and  bloody  war,  the  victories  of  Gusta- 
vus  Adolphus  confirmed  the  Swedish  supremacy,  and  by  the 
Treaty  of  Oliva,  Livonia,  as  well  as  the  islands  of  Oesel  and 
Dago,  became  part  of  Sweden,  on  the  same  conditions  on  which 
they  had  been  annexed  to  Poland. 


366  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

The  aristocracy  in  Sweden,  which  had  rapidly  increased  in 
power  since  the  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus,  had  succeeded  in 
making  itself  so  hated  by  all  the  other  classes  of  the  population 
that  the  Diet  restored  to  King  Charles  XI.  all  the  preceding 
royal,  despotic,  and  absolute  power.  One  of  the  measures  taken 
against  the  nobility  was  the  so-called  '  reduction,'  which  re- 
stored to  the  royal  domain  all  the  crown  lands  which  had  been 
at  different  times  granted  to  the  nobles  on  varying  tenures,  and 
had  been  wrongfully  treated  by  them  as  hereditary  estates,  sold 
and  alienated.  The  measure  was  legally  defensible,  but  it 
caused  great  distress,  and  many  innocent  and  honest  purchasers 
were  reduced  to  beggary.  Although  in  1678  Charles  XI.  had 
granted  a  charter  to  the  Livonian  nobility  confirming  all  their 
rights  to  their  estates,  and  expressly  promising  that  they  should 
not  be  subjected  to  any  '  reduction,'  yet  in  1680  the  '  reduction  ' 
was  applied  in  Livonia,  and  even  to  lands  which  had  never 
been  in  the  possession  of  the  Swedish  crown,  but  which  had 
once  belonged  to  the  Order  of  the  Teutonic  Knights,  its  grand- 
masters, or  its  chapters,  or  to  the  bishops  and  archbishops.  More 
than  five-sixths  of  the  lands  of  the  Livonian  nobles  were  thus 
confiscated,  and  out  of  6,236  separate  estates  only  1,021  were 
left  in  their  possession,  and  even  for  those  they  were  required 
to  produce  documentary  titles  dating  back  to  1561.  Protests 
were  made,  but  were  disregarded  by  the  King,  who  said  that 
the  '  reduction '  had  been  resolved  upon  as  a  measure  necessary 
for  the  common  weal,  and  that  no  exception  could  be  made  in 
favor  of  Livonia.  The  measure  was  unjust,  and — if  written 
charters  and  royal  signatures  mean  anything — illegal ;  a  brutal 
and  irritated  governor-general  carried  it  out  with  unnecessary 
harshness.  The  Landrath  Budberg  and  Captain  Patkul  were 
sent  to  Stockholm  to  explain  and  defend  the  privileges  of  the 
Livonian  nobility,  and  did  it  with  such  eloquence  that  the  King 
was  moved,  touched  Patkul  on  the  shoulder,  and  said :  '  You 
have  spoken  like  an  honest  man  for  your  fatherland.  I  thank 
you.'  But  evil  counsellors  prevailed,  several  high  nobles  were 
arrested,  and  Patkul  was  condemned  to  death  on  a  charge  of 
high  treason.  He  succeeded  in  escaping  from  Stockholm,  and 
passed  several  years  in  wandering  over  Europe,  devoting  him- 
self to  study,  and,  among  other  things,  translating  into  French 


1698.] 


PATKUL. 


367 


the  book  of  Puffendorf  on  the  duties  of  a  man  and  a  citizen. 
But  he  was  watching  for  an  opportunity  to  revenge  himself, 
and  do  what  he  could  for  his  native  country.  This  opportunity 
he  thought  had  come  on  the  death  of  King  Charles  XL,  when 
Sweden  was  left  to  the  rule  of  a  boy.  Patkul  was  a  singularly 
able  and  brilliant  man,  but  we  cannot  at  once  admit  that  he 
was  truly  patriotic.  lie  defended  only  the  rights  of  his  class, 
which  included  his  own.  That  there  existed  in  Livonia  any 
other  class  besides  the  nobility  whose  rights  were  worth  respect- 
ing, seems  not  to  have  entered  his  mind  any  more  than  the 
mind  of  many    nobles  ^  -    .,     ....     -• 

nowadays  in  the  Baltic 
provinces,  who  claim 
that  an  exclusive  re- 
gard to  their  rights  and 
privileges  should  have 
precedence  over  the 
general  welfare  of  the 
community.  In  the 
protest  to  the  Swedish 
Government,  there  was 
no  discussion  of  the 
point  whether  the  '  re- 
duction 7  was  or  was 
not  better  for  the  mass 
of  the  population.  All 
that  was  claimed  was 

that    it    infringed    on  Patkui. 

the  rights  of  the  no- 
bility. Patkul  knew  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  small 
province  of  Livonia  to  become  an  independent  State,  and  if  it 
threw  off  the  Swedish  yoke  it  must  immediately  take  upon  it- 
self that  of  some  other  power.  Poland  was  a  republic  of  nobles, 
and  under  such  rule  the  nobility  could  be  sure  of  keeping  their 
rights.  The  King,  too,  was  a  German  prince  who  could  sym- 
pathise with  Germans. 

It  seemed  to  him  that  the  misery  and  distress  inflicted  upon 
the  population  by  a  war  were  of  far  less  moment  than  that  the 
nobility  should  be  reduced  from  wealth  to  comparative  pov- 


368  PETEE   THE   GREAT. 

ertv.  Indeed  the  address  of  the  Diet  at  AVenden,  which  was 
drawn  up  by  Patkul,  had  said  this  very  thing,  'that  Livonia 
was  reduced  by  the  "reduction"  to  such  despair,  that  if  it 
pleased  God  to  give  them  the  choice  of  a  devastating  invasion 
of  an  enemy  or  the  unendurable  persecution  which  they  were 
now  undergoing,  they  would  unquestionably  choose  the  former 
rather  than  the  latter  misfortune.'  Apart  from  the  natural 
feelings  which  make  a  military  nobility  stand  up  for  its  rights 
and  property,  there  might  also  have  been  the  calculation  that 
they  would  suffer  on  the  whole  less  by  losing  their  revenues  for 
a  few  years,  even  if  the  houses  of  the  peasantry  were  destroyed 
and  the  common  people  reduced  to  beggary,  than  they  would 
if  their  property  was  entirely  taken  away  from  them,  and  the 
peasantry  remained  untouched. 

Patkul  therefore  proposed  to  King  Augustus  a  coalition 
against  Sweden  of  Poland,  Denmark,  Brandenburg,  and  Rus- 
sia, and,  as  an  incentive  to  action,  recalled  to  him  that  Livonia 
had  previously  belonged  to  the  Polish  crown.  In  his  memo- 
2-ials  given  to  the  King,  especially  that  of  April,  1699,  he  ex- 
plained the  chances  of  the  coalition,  and  the  difficulties  it  might 
meet  with  from  other  powers.  Denmark,  he  thought,  would 
be  the  easiest  of  all  to  persuade,  on  account  of  the  known  hos- 
tility of  the  Danes  to  the  Swedes,  and  especially  of  the  dispute 
between  the  Danish  King  and  the  Duke  of  IIolstein-Gottorp, 
who  had  married  the  sister  of  the  Swedish  King,  Charles  XII., 
and  was  bound  to  him  by  ties  of  personal  friendship.  If  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburg  could  not  be  persuaded  to  join  the  union, 
his  neutrality  at  least  could  be  assured  by  promising  to  aid 
him  in  his  efforts  to  secure  for  himself  the  title  of  King.  The 
1  hike  of  Liineberg  was  in  the  same  way  to  be  persuaded  to  assist 
them,  by  promising  to  make  him  Elector.  The  assistance  of  Eus- 
sia  was  in  every  way  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  plan,  and 
it  was  thought  the  Tsar  might  get  the  aid  of  Austria  in  his  nego- 
tiations with  the  Porte,  if  he  should  promise  the  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries permission  to  travel  freely  through  his  dominions  to 
China,  and  that  in  this  way  he  would  also  get  the  goodwill  of 
Venice  and  the  Pope,  and  especially  of  the  influential  College 
of  the  Propaganda  at  Rome.  In  making  an  arrangement  with 
liussia,  it  was  desirable  that  an  agreement  should  be  made  for 


100'J.]  patkul's  PROPOSALS.  360 

the  Tsar  to  assist  the  King  both  with  money  and  with  troops, 
especially  infantry,  '  who  would  be  most  serviceable  for  work- 
ing in  the  trenches,  and  for  receiving  the  enemy's  shots ;  while 
the  troops  of  the  King  could  be  preserved  and  used  for  cover- 
ing the  approaches.'  It  would  also  be  absolutely  necessary  '  to 
bind  the  hands  of  the  Tsar  in  such  a  way  that  he  should  not 
eat  before  our  eyes  the  piece  roasted  for  us,  that  is,  should  not 
get  hold  of  Livonia,  and  should  restrict  himself  to  Ingerman- 
land  and  Karelia.  lie  should  not  even  be  allowed  to  attack 
Narva,  for  in  that  case  he  could  threaten  the  centre  of  Livonia, 
and  take  Dorpat,  Peval,  and  the  whole  of  Esthonia  almost 
before  it  could  be  known  at  Warsaw.'  As  to  other  countries, 
Austria  had  too  much  to  avenge  for  what  she  suffered  during 
the  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  at  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  to  do 
any  tiling  to  the  advantage  of  Sweden.  France  would  have 
enough  on  her  hands,  in  view  of  the  approach  of  a  war  for  the 
Spanish  succession.  Although  England  and  Holland  would 
'  doubtless  make  loud  cries  about  the  harm  done  to  their  trade/ 
they  would  probably  do  nothing.  In  any  case,  it  would  be  best 
to  assure  them  that  all  the  hindrances  to  commerce  which  had 
existed  in  Livonia  under  the  Swedish  rule  would  be  done  away 
with.  As  further  inducements,  Patkul  assured  the  King  of  the 
easy  conquest  of  Livonia,  gave  him  exact  accounts  of  the  forti- 
fications of  Riga,  and  showed  him  from  letters,  that  he  had  al- 
ready formed  a  conspiracy  in  Kiga  itself,  and  was  only  waiting 
for  the  proper  moment  to  act. 

The  King  entered  into  PatkuTs  views,  and  agreed  to  the 
coalition  and  to  the  war.  In  order  to  cover  up  the  secret  nego- 
tiations with  Denmark,  he  sent  the  Senator  Galecki  as  ambassa- 
dor to  Charles  XII.  The  greatest  difficulty  in  the  way  of  Au- 
gustus was  how  to  induce  the  Polish  Diet  to  agree  to  the  war. 
If  the  matter  were  discussed  before  the  Diet,  there  would  be 
great  delay,  and  Sweden  would  take  the  alarm,  and  there  might 
even  be  opposition  and  a  refusal  to  engage  in  the  war.  If  the 
matter  were  not  presented  to  the  Diet,  there  might  be  jealousy 
on  the  part  of  the  Polish  nobles,  who  would  suspect  the  King 
of  designs  for  aggrandising  his  own  family,  and  of  taking  pos- 
session of  Livonia — an  old  Polish  province — for  the  benefit  of 
Saxony.  Besides,  there  was  the  difficulty  of  getting  permission 
Vol.  I.— 24 


370  PETEE   THE   OEEAT. 

for  the  Saxon  troops  to  remain  on  Polish  territory.  The  matter 
was  placed  before  the  meeting  of  the  privy  council,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  King's  friend  and  favourite,  Flemming,  and 
it  was  decided  to  work  upon  Cardinal  Radziejowski,  the  Pri- 
mate of  Poland.  The  Cardinal  hesitated,  but  Flemming  and 
Patkul  knew  well  how  to  overcome  his  scruples.  After  they 
had  promised  him  the  sum  of  100,000  thalers,  and  given  him 
notes  for  that  amount,  he  agreed  to  induce  the  Diet,  which  was 
constantly  demanding  the  withdrawal  of  the  Saxon  troops  from 
Poland,  to  consent  to  7,000  men  being  left  in  Curland,  under 
the  pretext  of  fortifying  the  port  at  Polangen,  but  in  reality 
for  attacking  Riga.  As  an  additional  argument  for  him,  he 
was  shown  a  convention  between  the  King  and  Patkul,  as  the 
representative  of  the  Diet  of  Livonia,  by  which  Livonia  recog- 
nised the  supremacy  of  Augustus,  and  united  itself  for  ever  to 
the  Republic  of  Poland,  preserving  its  internal  administration, 
laws,  and  institutions.  In  a  secret  article,  which  was  not  shown 
to  the  Cardinal,  the  Livonian  nobility  agreed  to  recognise  the 
sovereigntv  of  Augustus  and  his  successors,  and  to  send  the 
taxes  directly  to  them,  even  in  case  they  were  no  longer  kings 
of  Poland. 

To  secure  the  entrance  of  Russia  into  the  alliance,  General 
Carlowitz,  who  had  previously  accompanied  Peter  from  Poland 
on  his  journey  home,  and  was  much  liked  by  him,  was  sent  as 
special  envoy  to  make  a  secret  treaty.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Patkul,  disguised  under  the  name  of  Kindler.  To  prevent  any 
rumours  or  suspicions,  Carlowitz  took  with  him  twelve  Saxon 
mining  engineers  who  had  been  engaged  for  the  Russian  ser- 
vice.1 

1  Ustrialof,  III.,  xi.  xii.  xiii. ;  Solovief,  xiv.;  O.  A.  Wernich,  Johann  Rein- 
hold  v.  Patkul  iind  seine  Zeitgenossen,  Berlin,  1849 ;  O.  Sjogren,  J.  R.  Patkul 
in  Ilixtorisk  Bibliotek,  Stockholm,  1880 ;  E.  Herrmann,  GeschicMe  des  Russi- 
schen  Staates,  vol.  iv.,  Hamburg,  1849. 


XXXIX. 

RUSSIA   JOINS    THE   LEAGUE. 

After  King  Charles  XII.  had  been  declared  of  age,  and  the 
government  of  Sweden  had  been  handed  over  to  him  by  his 
grandmother,  Hedwiga  Eleanora,  he  sent  word  to  Moscow  that 
he  would  speedily  send  an  embassy  to  confirm  the  treaty  of 
J^ardis,  as  was  customary  on  the  accession  of  a  new  ruler. 
Knipercrona,  the  Swedish  Resident  at  Moscow,  was  informed 
that  the  embassy  would  be  received  with  pleasure  if  it  should 
arrive  before  the  end  of  the  Carnival,  because  after  that  the 
Tsar  was  going  to  the  south  of  Russia  for  a  prolonged  absence. 
Nothing,  however,  was  heard  of  it  during  the  winter,  and  it 
was  only  in  the  middle  of  June,  1699,  when  the  Tsar  was  with 
his  fleet  at  Azof,  that  the  Swedish  ambassadors  appeared  on 
the  frontier.  Although  Apraxin,  the  Yoievode  of  Xovgorod, 
gave  them  all  facilities,  they  were  still  two  months  on  their 
way  to  Moscow.  Leo  Xarvshkin  received  them  politely,  but 
expressed  his  inability  to  understand  why  they  should  have 
chosen  that  time  to  come,  when  they  must  have  known  that  the 
Tsar  was  absent,  if  his  message  had  been  properly  delivered  by 
the  Swedish  Resident.  He  added  that  the  Tsar  was  so  far  off 
that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  go  to  him,  and  that  they 
had  better  deliver  their  letters  of  credence  to  the  ministry,  as 
other  envoys  had  done.  As  they  were  not  envoys,  but  ambas- 
sadors come  to  ratify  the  treaty  of  J^ardis,  and  could  deliver 
their  letters  to  no  one  except  His  Majesty,  there  was  nothing 
for  them  to  do  but  to  wait,  and  Peter  did  not  arrive  at  Moscow 
until  the  7th  of  October.  He  found  there  two  embassies  wait- 
ing for  him — that  of  the  Swedes  to  confirm  the  treaty  of  peace, 

and  that  of  Kino;  Augustus,  asking  him  to  make  war  on  Swo- 
ts c?  y  o 

den.     The  Tsar  was  glad  of  the  proposition  of  Augustus,  and 


372  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

was  perfectly  ready  to  join  in  the  alliance  of  Poland  and  Den- 
mark, but  on  condition  that  he  should  have  no  open  rupture 
with  Sweden  before  the  conclusion  of  peace  with  the  Turks. 
He  had  already  made  a  treaty  of  alliance  and  mutual  aid  with 
Denmark,  but  it  was  general  in  its  terms  and  not  particularly 
directed  against  Sweden.  The  negotiations  with  the  Swedes 
went  on  openly  at  the  Foreign  Office;  that  with  the  Poles  was 
carried  <>n  secretly  at  Preobrazhensky,  and  besides  Peter  and 
Carlowitz,  none  except  Golovin,  the  Danish  minister  Heins, 
and  Shafirof,  who  acted  as  interpreter,  were  admitted  to  the 
secret.  It  was  known  that  negotiations  of  some  sort  were 
-din--  on  with  Carlowitz,  but  it  was  thought  that  they  were  for 
the  purpose  of  concluding  a  treaty  between  the  King  and  the 
Tsar,  in  consequence  of  the  rumoured  intentions  of  Augustus 
to  overthrow  the  republic  and  establish  an  absolute  monarchy 
in  Poland.  Some  strength  was  perhaps  given  to  this  belief  by 
the  oft-repeated  expression  of  Peter,  that  he  loved  the  King  of 
Poland  as  a  brother,  but  that  the  Poles  were  good  for  nothing, 
even  to  the  devil.  The  Swredes  themselves  apparently  sus- 
pected nothing.  They  were  received  with  great  honour  at  the 
palace,  where  they  gave  the  presents  they  had  brought,  in- 
cluding among  others  a  full-length  portrait  of  King  Charles 
XII.1  In  the  absence  of  news  from  Turkey,  it  was  necessary  to 
go  through  the  form  of  confirming  the  previous  treaties  with 
Sweden,  but  it  was  a  little  salve  to  the  conscience  of  the  Tsar 
that  he  could  avoid  taking  an  oath  on  the  Gospels  to  keep  them. 
This  oath  was  insisted  upon  by  the  ambassadors,  but  was  re- 
fused by  the  Tsar  on  the  ground  that  he  had  already  taken  it 
when  he  first  came  to  the  throne,  and  that  it  was  neither  neces- 
sary nor  customary  to  repeat  it.  In  proof  of  this,  the  Russians 
adduced  the  journal  of  the  proceedings  on  the  occasion  of  the 
accession  of  Queen  Christina,  when  the  Tsar  Michael  did  not 
repeat  the  oath  which  he  had  sworn  once  before.  At  the  same 
time,  complaints  were  made  by  the  Russians  of  the  treatment 
which  the  Grand  Embassy  and  the  Tsar  himself  had  undergone 
at  the  hands  of  the  Governor  of  Riga,  and  a  demand  was  made 


1  This  portrait  was  burnt,  in  1706,  by  a  fire  that  destroyed  the  house  of 
Prince  Menshikof. 


1690.]  DECEIVING   SWEDEN.  373 

for  satisfaction.  The  ambassadors  were  unable  to  explain  the 
affair  at  Riga,  of  which  they  said  they  had  never  heard,  and 
promised  to  report  it  to  the  King.  After  many  conferences, 
they  finally  agreed  to  accept  the  precedent  of  Queen  Christina, 
on  the  faith  of  the  Russian  documents,  as  the  Swedish  ones  had 
been  consumed  in  a  fire,  and  at  their  farewell  audience  received, 
instead  of  the  Tsar's  oath  on  the  Gospels,  a  formal  letter  from 
him  to  the  King,  confirming  all  the  previous  treaties  of  peace 
exactly  the  same  as  if  he  had  sworn  to  them  anew. 

Nine  days  before  this,  Peter  had  signed  a  treaty  with  Car- 
lowitz  agreeing  to  make  war  upon  Sweden.  This  duplicity 
may  have  been  necessary,  and  may  have  formed  a  part  of  the 
received  diplomacy  of  those  times,  but  luckily  in  the  present 
day  sovereigns  are  shielded  from  personal  moral  responsibility, 
because  they  do  not  themselves  appear  in  the  negotiations, 
which  are  carried  on  by  ministers,  more  or  less  constitutional. 
At  that  time  Peter  acted  as  his  own  prime  minister,  and  took 
personal  part  in  the  negotiations.1 

After  the  treaty  was  signed,  Patkul,  who  had  up  to  this 
time  remained  in  the  back-ground,  was  presented  to  the  Tsar, 
and  explained  his  plan  for  the  conquest  of  Livonia,  and  for 
the  concerted  action  of  the  allies.  Two  weeks  later,  Carlowitz 
took  his  departure  for  the  Saxon  army  in  Curland,  intending 
to  stop  on  the  way  at  Riga  and  inspect  the  fortifications  and 
defences  of  the  town,  in  order  to  discover  their  weakest  places, 
for  it  had  been  arranged  that  the  war  was  to  begin  on  the  part 
of  the  Poles  on  Christmas-day,  by  a  sudden  attack  upon  Riga, 
without  any  preliminary  declaration  of  war.  Carlowitz  was  to 
return  to  Russia  after  Riga  was  taken,  and  it  was  then  Peter's 
intention  to  send  with  him  his  son  Alexis  for  education  in 
Germany.  King  Augustus  had  promised  to  take  charge  of 
him,  and  treat  him  as  his  own  child.  Lefort's  son  Henry 
was  to  join  him  in  Dresden,  and  be  brought  up  with  him.    The 

1  Ustri;ilof,  who  may  be  considered  almost  as  the  official  historian  of  Peter, 
says  :  '  Peter  was  not  afraid  either  of  the  taunts  of  his  contemporaries  or  of 
the  judgment  of  posterity.  Advantages  gained  to  his  country  were  for  him 
higher  than  all  other  considerations,  and  he  regarded  nothing  in  a  matter 
which  tended  to  increase  the  greatness  of  his  beloved  Russia.'  Vol.  III.,  ch. 
xiii. 


;?74  I'KTEK   THE    GREAT. 

speedy  death  of  Carlowitz  and  the  war  put  an  end  to  these 
projects. 

Peter  now  began  to  make  serious  preparations  for  war,  and 
the  greatest  of  them  all  was  the  formation  of  a  regular  army 
after  the  model  of  the  four  regiments  that  already  existed — the 
Preobrazhensky,  Semenofsky,  Lefort,  and  Butyrsky.  For  this 
purpose  he  ordered  the  prelates  and  monasteries  to  send  one 
man  for  every  twenty -five  peasant  houses,  and  the  nobles  one 
for  every  thirty  to  fifty,  according  to  their  means,  choosing  es- 
pecially those  useless  men  who  were  not  actually  at  work,  but 
were  hanging  about  the  kitchens  of  the  monasteries  and  the 
stables  of  the  great  lords.  These  were  to  be  sent  to  Preobraz- 
hensky in  December,  1699,  and  January,  1700,  and,  in  addition 
to  this,  a  call  was  made  for  volunteers  from  Moscow,  who  were 
promised  good  pay.  The  recruits  thus  collected  were  instructed 
at  Preobrazhensky  under  the  personal  supervision  of  the  Tsar 
himself,  assisted  by  General  Avtemon  Golovin,  the  commander 
of  the  guard,  the  brigadier  Adam  AVeyde,  and  the  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regiment,  Prince  Xikita  liepnin, 
each  of  whom  was  ordered  to  form  a  division  of  nine  regiments. 
General  Gordon  was  already  dead.  The  work  of  instruction 
went  on  very  fast.  The  greatest  difficulty  was  found  with  the 
officers,  many  of  whom  were  drunken  worthless  fellows,  wii<> 
could  not  even  learn  the  use  of  the  musket.  To  supply  the 
place  of  tho^e  who  were  cashiered,  many  courtiers,  after  a  little 
preliminary  training,  were  enrolled  as  officers,  and  they  advanced 
so  quickly  that  the  Tsar  was  delighted,  and  exclaimed  :  '  Why 
should  I  spend  money  on  foreigners  when  my  own  subjects  can 
do  as  well  as  they  ? '  Subsequently,  nearly  all  the  chamber- 
lains and  palace  officials  entered  the  service.  The  soldiers  were 
uniformed  after  the  pattern  of  the  German  infantry,  in  dark- 
green  cloth  coats,  and  low  cocked  hats,  and  armed  with  muskets 
and  bayonets.  They  were  taught  to  stand  firmly  side  by  side,  to 
march  evenly,  to  fire  by  platoons,  to  charge  with  the  bayonet, 
to  give  absolute  attention  to  the  word  of  command,  and  for  the 
hast  infraction  of  discipline  were  severely  punished.  A  special 
commissariat  was  created,  with  Simeon  Yazykof  as  commis- 
sary-general, while  Prince  Jacob  Dolgoruky  was  intrusted  with 
the  direction  of  military  justice.     The  artillery,  which  was  nu- 


1700.]  THE   WAK  BEGUN.  375 

inerous  and  well  arranged,  was  put  under  the  command  of 
Prince  Alexander  of  Imeritia,  who  had  studied  artillery  at  the 
Hague.  The  articles  of  Avar  were  drawn  up  by  Adam  Weyde, 
who  had  thoroughly  studied  the  organisation  of  the  Austrian 
army  under  the  command  of  Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy,  and  had 
taken  part  in  the  battle  of  the  Zenta.  In  this  way,  in  the 
course  of  three  months,  an  army  of  32,000  men  was  formed, 
consisting  of  twenty-nine  regiments  of  infantry,  two  regiments 
of  dragoons,  and  a  special  detachment  at  Novgorod.  The  drill 
and  general  conduct  won  high  praise  from  the  Saxon  general, 
Baron  Langen,  in  a  report  to  King  Augustus. 

Toward  the  end  of  February,  1700,  Peter  went  to  Voronezh, 
and  busied  himself  about  getting  ready  more  ships  for  the  Sea 
of  Azof.  Early  in  May  he  was  able  to  launch  his  new  frigate, 
the  '  Predestination,1  in  the  presence  of  his  son,  his  sister,  and 
many  boyars,  who,  by  command  of  the  Tsar,  were  obliged  to 
bring  with  them  their  wives.  Many  ladies  of  the  German 
suburb  were  also  present.  While  at  Voronezh,  he  received  the 
news  that  Augustus  had  begun  the  war  against  Sweden.  It 
had  been  arranged,  as  we  have  said,  that  the  attack  upon  Riga 
should  be  made  on  Christmas  Day.  The  plot  in  Riga  was  ripe, 
the  Saxon  troops  had  been  collected  in  Curland,  close  to  the 
Livonian  frontier,  and  yet  the  Swedes,  and  even  Dahlberg,  who 
had  been  so  suspicious  at  the  time  of  Peter's  visit,  apparently 
mistrusted  nothing.  But  this  very  time  had  been  chosen  by 
Flemming  to  leave  his  army  and  to  go  to  Saxony,  to  marry  a 
lady  of  the  famous  house  of  Sapieha.  General  Paykull,  a  Li- 
vonian by  birth,  who  commanded  the  Saxon  troops  in  his  ab- 
sence, knew  nothing  of  the  plot  in  Riga,  and,  however  much 
Carlowitz  tried  to  persuade  him,  refused  to  advance.  The  se- 
cret got  out,  and  Dahlberg  took  such  measures  that  any  sudden 
attack  was  impossible.  When  Flemming  returned,  in  February, 
he  wrote  to  the  King  that  he  would  immediately  attack  Riga, 
and  began  to  move  his  troops  on  the  very  day  on  which  Peter 
left  Moscow  for  Voronezh.  But  it  was  too  late.  All  his  ef- 
forts were  vain,  and  Carlowitz  was  killed  in  an  attack  on  Diina- 
miinde.  Flemming  then  went  back  to  Warsaw,  and  Paykull, 
in  spite  of  his  proclamations,  was,  by  the  vigor  of  the  Swedish 
generals,  forced  to  retreat  into  Curland. 


376  PETE  It   THE   GREAT. 

'  By  dissipation  and  inexcusable  thoughtlessness,  much  pre- 
cious time  lias  been  lost,'  Golovin  reported  to  Peter. 

•It  is  a  pity.3  Peter  replied;  'but  there  is  nothing  to  be 
done.     I  have  not  heard  from  Constantinople.' 

lie,  however  ordered  Golovin  to  send  a  young  engineer, 
Kortehniin,  to  Narva  to  buy  some  cannon — six,  nine,  and  twelve 
pounders — that  he  heard  were  for  sale,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
pay  particular  attention  to  the  defences  and  fortifications  of  the 
town,  and,  if  possible,  penetrate  as  far  as  Oreshek,  '  and  if  that 
be  impossible,  at  least  alongside  of  it.  That  position  there  is 
very  necessary.  It  is  the  outlet  from  Lake  Ladoga  to  the  sea — 
look  on  the  map — and  very  necessary  to  keep  back  the  reinforce- 
ments. The  boy,  I  think,  is  not  stupid,  and  can  keep  a  secret. 
It  is  very  necessary  that  Kniper  (Knipercrona),  who  knows  that 
he  has  been  well  taught,  should  not  find  out  about  it.' 

Soon  after,  the  newrs  came  to  Moscow  that  the  King  of  Den- 
mark had  begun  war  by  invading  Holstein-Gottorp  with  16,- 
000  men,  and  laying  siege  to  Tonning.  The  time  was  propi- 
tious for  action  on  Peter's  part,  but  as  yet  there  was  nothing 
decisive  from  Constantinople.  lie  had  had  no  direct  reports 
for  some  time  from  L^kraintsef,  but  rumours  came  from  all  di- 
rections that  the  Turks  were  making  preparations  for  war. 
These  rumours  disturbed  Peter  so  much  that  he  considered  it 
necessaiy  to  reassure  the  King  of  Sweden  as  to  his  peaceful  in- 
tentions by  sending  an  embassy.  At  the  end  of  April  he  there- 
fore appointed  Prince  Jacob  Dolgoriiky,  Prince  Thedore  Sha- 
khofskoy,  and  the  scribe  Domnin  as  ambassadors,  and  sent  in 
advance  Prince  Andrew  Hilkof  to  announce  their  arrival,  and 
to  obtain  information  as  to  the  actual  policy  of  Sweden,  lie 
was  instructed  to  make  formal  inquiries  against  whom  the  King 
of  France  had  concluded  an  alliance  with  Sweden,  why  a  war 
had  broken  out  between  King  Charles  and  King  Augustus, 
why  Saxon  troops  had  attacked  Riga,  whether  there  Mere  any 
Polish  troops  with  them,  and  whether  Sweden  was  at  war 
or  peace  with  Denmark  and  Brandenburg.  Knipercrona,  the 
Swedish  Resident  at  Moscow,  spoke  in  high  terms  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  embassy,  especially  of  Prince  Dolgoriiky,  and,  as  an 
evidence  of  the  peaceful  intentions  of  the  Tsar,  reported  to 
King  Charles,  on  May  1'ti,  as  follows: 


1700.]  DECEIVING   SWEDEN.  377 

'His  Tsarish  Majesty,  on  the  next  day  after  his  return  from 
Voronezh,  visited  my  house,  and  jestingly  blamed  my  wife  for 
having  written  to  her  daughter  at  Voronezh  that  Russian  troops 
were  preparing  to  march  into  Livonia,  which  had  made  a  great 
panic  among  all  the  Swedes  at  Moscow,  "  Your  daughter," 
said  the  Tsar,  "  cried  so  much  that  I  could  hardly  appease  her. 
'  You  foolish  creature,'  I  said  to  her,  '  do  you  really  think  that  I 
would  consent  to  begin  an  unjust  Avar,  and  to  break  an  eternal 
peace  that  I  have  just  confirmed  ? '"  We  were  all  so  much 
moved  by  his  words  that  we  could  not  refrain  from  tears  ;  and 
when  I  asked  him  to  excuse  my  wife,  he  embraced  me,  adding, 
"Even  if  the  King  of  Poland  should  take  Piga,  it  would  not 
remain  in  his  possession.     I  would  tear  it  out  of  his  hands."  ' 

Prince  Dolgoruky  was  told  not  to  hasten,  but  Prince  Ililkof 
set  out  for  Stockholm  at  the  end  of  June.  He  passed  through 
Xarva,  inspected  its  fortifications,  and  made  a  report  on  them 
to  the  Tsar,  but  arrived  in  Sweden  too  late  to  find  the  King, 
who  had  already  departed  for  the  Danish  Avar ;  and  he  was 
finally  presented  to  Charles  XII.  in  the  camp  before  Copen- 
hagen, at  the  end  of  August,  after  the  conclusion  of  the  peace. 
Following  Ililkof,  Prince  Yiiry  Trubetzkoy  was  sent  on  a 
secret  mission  to  Berlin  to  state  to  the  Elector  Frederick  the 
intention  of  the  Tsar  to  make  war  on  Sweden  as  soon  as  he  had 
arranged  affairs  with  Turkey,  and  begging  him  to  take  part  in 
the  league  on  the  basis  of  the  mutual  engagement  by  which  the 
Tsar  and  the  Elector  had  bound  themselves  to  assist  each  other. 
This  invitation  was  not  accepted.  In  July,  King  Augustus 
went  in  person  to  his  army  before  Piga,  and  sent  Baron  Langen 
to  Moscow  to  persuade  the  Tsar  immediately  to  send  auxiliary 
troops  and  to  attack  Ingria,  in  order  to  draw  off  the  Swedes 
from  Piga.  In  his  letter  he  said  :  '  Dear  brother,  I  beg  you  to 
spare  the  bearer  of  this  from  strong  drinks,  because  they  do 
mortal  harm  to  his  life.'  Peter  replied  that  he  had  no  inten- 
tion of  injuring  Langen,  but  that  drink  was  evidently  no  nov- 
elty to  him,  as  his  gout  showed.  Langen  was  very  well  re- 
ceived, and,  at  his  request,  entirely  without  ceremony. 

'The  Tsar  sent  his  ministers  out  of  the  room,  and,  with 
tears  in  his  eyes,  said  to  me  in  broken  Dutch  how  grieved  he 
was  at  the  delay  in  concluding  peace  with  Turkey,  through  the 


378  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

intrigues  «>f  the  opposite  party,  notwithstanding  that  he  had 
ordered  his  ambassador  at  Constantinople  to  conclude  a  peace 
or  a  truce  id  the  quickest  possible  time,  even  to  his  own  loss,  so 
as  to  have  his  hands  free  to  aid  the  allies  with  all  his  forces.' 

To  Langen's  earnest  entreaties,  Peter  finally  consented  to 
give  two-thirds  of  the  cannon  then  in  Smolensk,  and  to  send  a 
lew  regiments  of  Little  Russian  Cossacks,  but  refused  to  come 
to  an  open  rupture,  because,  although  he  was  now  sure  of  peace, 
'  it  was  not  yet  signed,  and  the  Porte  had  been  informed  by  the 
Polish  Minister  of  the  secret  league,,  and  had  begun  to  be 
obstinate  again  as  soon  as  it  had  heard  of  the  war  in  the 
North.'  He  said,  however,  that  he  '  was  waiting  for  a  courier 
from  hour  to  hour,  and  if  he  received  news  of  peace  to-day,  he 
would  move  his  troops  against  the  Swedes  to-morrow.'  Peter 
kept  his  word.  On  August  18,  the  despatch  of  Ukraintsef,  an- 
nouncing the  signature  of  the  treaty,  arrived.  That  evening, 
the  peace  with  Turkey  was  celebrated  with  '  extraordinary  fire- 
works,' and  on  the  very  next  day  war  was  declared  in  the  usual 
form  by  proclamation  from  the  Bed-Chamber  Porch,  '  for  the 
many  wrongful  acts  of  the  Swedish  King,  and  especially  because 
during  the  journey  of  his  Majesty  through  Riga,  much  opposi- 
tion and  unpleasantness  was  caused  to  him  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Riga.'  The  troops  were  ordered  to  march  at  once,  and  were 
put  under  the  command  of  Golovfn,  who  was  created  field-mar- 
shal. The  same  day,  Peter  despatched  an  autograph  letter  to 
Augustus,  informing  him  of  the  fact — 'and  we  hope,  by  the 
help  of  God,  that  your  Majesty  will  not  see  other  than  profit.' ' 

1  Ustrialof,  III. ,  xii.  xiii.  ;  Solovief,  xiv. ;  A.  Fryxell,  Lebensgeschiclite 
KarVs  des  Zwolften,  Ger.  Transl  of  Jenssen-Tusch,  vol.  i.  Braunschweig, 
18G1.  0.  Sjogren,  Otto  Arnold  Paykull,  in  Historisk  Tidskrift,  Stockholm, 
1881. 


XL. 


CHARLES    THE   TWELFTH. 


No  more  unpropitious  time  for  declaring  war  could  have 
been  chosen.  The  attempt  of  King  Augustus  and  his  Saxon 
troops  on  Riga  had  failed,  and  the  King  of  Denmark  had 
been  awed  into  sub- 
mission by  the  Swe- 
dish forces,  and,  on 
the  very  day  that 
the  news  of  the  trea- 
ty with  the  Turks 
arrived  at  Moscow, 
had  concluded  with 
Charles  XII.  the 
peace  of  Travendal. 
A  new  and  unex- 
pected element  had 
spoiled  all  the  cal- 
culations of  the  al- 
lies. They  had  coun- 
ted upon  the  youth 
and  carelessness  of 
the  Swedish  King. 
They  were  grievous- 
ly disappointed. 

Charles  XII.  of 
Sweden,  the  son  of  Charles  XL,  was  born  in  1682,  and  was 
therefore  just  ten  years  younger  than  Peter.  His  early  years 
were  tenderly  cared  for  by  his  mother,  Ulrica  Eleanora,  a 
Danish  princess,  whose  many  virtues  made  her  beloved  by  all 
save   her   husband.     Without   being   precocious,  the  mind  of 


380  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

( 'liarles  was  bright  and  active,  and  it  was  rapidly  developed 
under  the  guidance  of  his  tutor  Xorcopensis.  His  native  lan- 
guage he  neither  wrote  nor  spoke  well ;  German,  which  was 
then  the  court  language  of  the  Korth,  he  learned  to  speak 
as  his  mother  tongue  ;  Latin  he  spoke  better  than  either,  but 
he  was  only  induced  to  learn  it  when  told  that  the  King  of 
Denmark  and  the  King  of  Poland  habitually  used  it.  To  the 
study  of  French  he  always  showed  a  repugnance,  and  could 
rarely  be  induced  to  speak  it ;  but  he  understood  it,  read  it,  and 
enjoyed  the  French  theatre.  History  he  studied  eagerly,  whether 
it  treated  of  the  deeds  of  Caesar  and  Alexander,  or  of  the  Ref- 
ormation and  of  his  great  predecessor,  Gustavus  Adolphus.  He 
was  well  drilled  in  the  principles  of  religion  and  morals,  and 
showed  a  quick  intelligence  and  much  power  of  application, 
though,  at  the  same  time,  great  self-will  and  determination. 
His  education  was  well  begun,  but  the  death  of  his  mother,  and 
then  of  his  tutor,  when  he  was  not  twelve  years  old,  brought 
changes  and  interruptions,  and  it  was  not  so  carefully  continued. 

In  his  early  years  his  health  was  delicate,  and  grief  for  his 
mother  threw  him  into  a  long  fever,  which  terminated  in  an 
attack  of  small-pox  ;  but  his  constitution  was  strong,  his  passion 
for  physical  sports  gave  him  health  and  strength,  and  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  he  was  tall,  slim,  and  wiry,  and  seemed  almost 
like  a  grown  man.  He  had  been  put  on  the  back  of  a  pony 
at  the  age  of  four,  and  had  even  ridden  at  reviews  of  the 
troops.  He  speedily  became  a  perfect  horseman.  His  love  of 
hunting  developed  with  equal  rapidity.  When  seven  years  old 
Jie  had  shot  a  fox,  and  before  he  was  twelve  had  killed  a  bear. 
His  taste  for  military  exercises  and  the  art  of  war  now  took  a 
more  decided  turn,  and  his  military  education  was  confided  to 
General  Stuart.  His  father  delighted  in  the  promise  of  the 
lad,  and  loved  to  take  him  on  his  hunting-parties  and  military 
inspections.     In  this  way  much  time  was  lost  from  study. 

In  April,  1697,  Charles  XL  died.  By  his  will,  he  appointed 
a  regency,  under  the  presidency  of  his  mother,  the  Queen  Iled- 
wiga  Eleanora,  but  fixed  no  time  at  which  his  son  should  be  de- 
clared of  age.  By  custom,  the  majority  of  Swedish  princes  had 
been  fixed  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  but  in  the  present  case  there- 
had  been  such  disputes  between  the  regents  themselves,   and 


1697.] 


ACCESSION   OF   CHARLES   XII. 


381 


among  the  nobles — who  were  divided  into  Danish  and  French 
factions — such  jealousy  of  the  nobility  on  the  part  of  the  other 
estates,  such  dislike  to  the  influence  of  the  Queen-mother,  such 
a  general  appreciation  of  the  abilities  and  good  qualities  of  the 
voung  prince,  and  such  a  desire  to  gain  his  favour  by  being 
the  first  to  please  him,  that  little  opposition  was  manifested  to 
the  project  of  declaring  him  of  age  in  November  of  the  same 
year,  when  he  was  just  fifteen  years  old.  The  plan  was  matured 
and  executed  within 
ten  hours. 

Charles  had  given 
every  reason  for 
confidence.  Though 
still  a  minor,  he  had 
been  admitted  to 
the  meetings  of  the 
council,  and  had  im- 
pressed every  one 
not  only  by  his  good 
sense  and  quick  de- 
cision, but  by  his 
power  of  silence. 
He  had  at  times  a 
gravity  and  deter- 
mination which 
were  far  beyond  his 
years.  During  the 
conflagration  of  the 
royal  palace,  shortly 
after  his  father's  death,  he  had  shown  a  calmness  and  self-re- 
straint which  were  in  striking  contrast  to  the  excitement  and 
nervousness  of  the  Queen-mother  and  which  produced  a  favour- 
able impression  on  everyone.  Xo  sooner  was  he  declared  of  age, 
and  the  sole  and  absolute  ruler  of  the  country,  than  he  seemed 
to  change.  The  nobles  who  had  counted  on  a  mitigation  of  the 
'  Reduction '  edicts  of  Charles  XI.,  were  disappointed.  The 
young  King  upheld  and  defended  all  the  acts  of  his  father.  He 
manifested  an  excessive  amount  of  self-will  and  obstinacy,  and 
made  it  a  point  of  honour  never  to  draw  back  from  a  resolution 


King  Charles  X 


382  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

which  ho  had  once  made.  He  at  the  same  time  showed  a  cold- 
ness and  haughtiness  in  his  demeanour  in  public  which  had  not 
before  been  noticed.  At  the  meetings  of  the  council  he  would 
calmly  listen  for  a  while  to  the  arguments  and  statements,  and 
then  interrupt  by  saving  that  his  mind  had  long  been  made  up. 
Once  having  said  this  he  would  hear  no  more,  for  his  will  was 
supreme.  Some  of  the  courtiers  took  advantage  of  this  side  of 
his  character  to  flatter  him,  hoping  thus  to  advance  themselves. 
It  was  owing  to  this  that  he  refused  to  be  crowned  in  the  or- 
dinary way,  claiming  that  while  it  was  proper  for  elected  kings 
to  be  solemnly  crowned,  he,  as  being  born  to  the  throne,  had 
no  need  of  it.  In  spite  of  the  representations  of  the  more  con- 
servative and  moderate  statesmen,  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  of 
his  grandmother,  the  utmost  that  he  would  yield  was  to  allow 
himself  to  be  consecrated  by  the  archbishop,  in  order  that  he 
might  carry  out  the  biblical  injunction  and  be  the  anointed  of 
the  Lord.  But  the  ceremony  was  called  not  the  coronation  but 
the  consecration,  and  Charles  rode  to  the  church  with  his 
crown  on  his  head,  and  refused  to  take  the  oath  to  govern  well 
and  justly,  which,  on  the  part  of  the  ruler,  corresponds  to  the 
oath  of  allegiance  on  the  part  of  the  subject.  The  superstitious 
found  many  omens  for  the  future  of  the  King  and  country ; 
there  was  a  violent  snow-storm  during  the  ceremony ;  the  pro- 
cession looked  dismal  in  the  black  dress  required  by  the  court 
mourning ;  the  King  amused  himself  during  the  sermon  with 
picking  the  black  specks  out  of  his  robe  ;  and,  worst  of  all,  the 
archbishop  dropped  the  anointing  horn,  and  the  crown  fell  from 
the  King's  head  and  rolled  upon  the  ground.  Wise  and  pru- 
dent men  saw  more  serious  signs  of  trouble  and  danger  in  the 
conduct  of  Charles  toward  the  Diet,  in  his  views  with  regard 
to  the  coronation  oath,  and  in  the  systematic  way  in  which  he 
tried  to  lower  the  importance  of  the  members  of  the  council. 
Too  late  they  repented  of  having  put  themselves  at  the  mercy 
of  a  wayward  and  wilful  youth,  jealous  of  his  own  power  and 
careless  of  the  rights  of  others.  Determined  to  show  himself 
the  supreme  master,  Charles  constantly  humiliated  the  old 
councillors  and  ministers  by  keeping  them  waiting  for  hours  in 
the  ante-rooms  while  he  discussed  affairs  with  his  favourites. 
Piper  and  "Wallenstedt.     He  transacted  the  weightiest  affairs  of 


CHARLES   XII.    BEAR   HUNTING. 


1697.]  CHAEACTER   OF   CHARLES   XII.  383 

State  without  their  knowledge  or  advice,  convoked  the  Council 
only  at  rare  intervals  in  three  years,  to  decide  questions  of  law, 
or  to  go  through  the  form  of  signing  his  decisions,  and  even 
went  so  far  as  to  appoint  a  generalissimo,  to  send  troops  out  of 
the  country,  and  almost  to  declare  war,  before  the  Council  was 
informed  or  consulted. 

The  education  of  Charles  was  naturally  at  an  end.  What 
time  he  could  spare  from  his  duties  as  a  ruler  was  devoted  to 
military  exercises  and  to  field  sports.  The  more  dangerous  the 
amusement,  the  greater  attractions  it  had  for  him.  lie  took 
up  the  idea  that  it  was  cowardly  to  attack  beasts  with  fire-arms, 
and  went  bear-hunting  armed  with  nothing  but  a  pike  or  a  cut- 
lass. Soon  the  victory  seemed  to  him  too  easily  gained  even  in 
this  way,  and  he  forbade  the  use  of  cold  steel  as  well  as  of  tire- 
arms,  and  all  were  armed  with  strong  wooden  forks.  The  sport 
was  to  wait  until  the  bear  rose  on  his  hind  legs,  catch  him  in 
the  neck  with  the  fork  and  throw  him  over  backward,  when 
the  huntsmen  sprang  out  and  wound  a  net  around  his  hind  legs. 
Charles  rode  fast  and  furiously,  up  and  down  hill,  through 
forest  and  stream.  Frequently  his  horse  fell  with  him,  and  he 
returned  black  and  blue.  Once,  the  snow  was  so  deep  that  his 
horse  fell  upon  him :  he  could  not  move,  and  as  he  had  far  out- 
stripped his  companions,  he  was  nearly  frozen  when  rescued. 
At  another  time,  he  rode  up  the  side  of  a  cliff  so  steep  that 
both  horse  and  rider  fell  backward,  and  it  was  considered  a 
miracle  that  his  life  was  saved.  On  another  occasion,  starting- 
out  from  the  palace  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  attended 
only  by  a  page  and  a  captain  of  his  guards,  he  came  to  one  of 
the  gulfs  near  Stockholm,  which  was  covered  with  a  sheet  of  ice 
so  thin  from  the  spring  rains  that  even  foot  passengers  scarcely 
dared  to  trust  themselves  upon  it.  In  spite  of  the  remon- 
strances of  his  attendants,  he  ventured  upon  it,  and  found  at  the 
other  side  a  clear  space  of  water  fifteen  feet  wide.  He  could 
not  go  back,  plunged  in,  and  luckily  reached  the  shore.  Fi- 
nally, the  old  equerry,  Hord,  summoned  up  courage  to  remon- 
strate with  him,  and  told  him  that  God  had  saved  his  life  twice 
in  such  dangers,  and  would  be  excused  if,  the  third  time,  He 
did  not  interpose.  '  God  has  created  beasts  for  the  service  of 
men,  but  not  to  help  them  break  their  own  necks.'     In  winter 


384  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

Charles  amused  himself  with  sledging  parties  of  the  most  dan- 
gerous character.  Sometimes  the  sledges  were  fastened  to- 
gether in  a  long  file,  and  the  horses  were  then  whipped  to  the 
top  of  their  speed  down  the  steep  hills.  Once  he  found  a  peas- 
ant's sledge  laden  with  wood,  and  with  two  or  three  compan- 
ions mounted  it,  and  set  off  down  a  steep  which  had  been  made 
like  glass  with  several  coats  of  ice.  It  was  impossible  to  steer 
the  sledge,  and  they  came  up  against  a  heavy  stake  at  the 
bottom.  His  companions  were  severely  injured ;  he  remained 
unhurt. 

The  military  sports  were,  if  possible,  still  more  dangerous. 
As  under  Peter's  direction  in  Russia,  the  sham  fights  in  Swe- 
den were  carried  on  with  pasteboard  hand-grenades,  and  fre- 
quently cost  many  lives.  In  taking  a  snow  intrenchment,  the 
King  had  his  clothes  nearly  torn  off  him,  and  many  others  were 
seriously  injured.  Sometimes  there  were  sea-fights  of  a  pecu- 
liar character.  The  boats  were  armed  with  fire-engines,  and  the 
crews  with  large  squirts,  with  which  they  fought.  On  one  occa- 
sion, Arfvid  Horn,  one  of  Charles's  great  friends,  stripped  him- 
self to  his  shirt,  rowed  away  from  his  yacht  in  a  small  boat,  and 
attacked  the  King  and  his  suite.  He  was  repelled  with  such 
vigour  that  his  boat  soon  filled  with  wTater,  and  began  to  sink. 
Jumping  out,  Horn  swam  once  around  the  yacht.  Charles  at 
last  asked  him  if  swimming  were  difficult.  '  Xo,'  said  Horn, 
'  if  one  is  not  afraid,'  at  which  the  King  immediately  jumped 
into  the  water,  but  found  that  courage  did  not  make  up  for 
■want  of  skill,  and  would  have  drowned  had  not  Horn  caught 
him  by  the  clothes  and  brought  him  a  long  distance  to  land. 
Another  day  the  guards  were  divided  into  two  parties,  led  by 
Charles  and  Horn.  The  horses  were  not  allowed  to  be  saddled, 
and  the  men  were  armed  with  nothing  but  stout  hazel  sticks. 
]NTo  one  was  spared.  The  blows  given  by  Horn  were  so  vigor- 
ous, that  Charles,  in  a  moment  of  excitement,  aimed  a  blow  at 
his  face,  and  hit  a  boil  on  his  cheek.  Horn  fell  fainting  to  the 
ground,  and  the  pain  and  the  heat  combined  threw  him  into  a 
violent  fever,  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life.  Charles  repented, 
frequently  visited  him,  and  gave  him  2,000  thalers  for  his  cure, 
promising  to  repeat  the  prescription  as  often  as  he  was  again 
wounded.     All  this  Charles  did,  not  for  amusement  alone,  but 


1698.]  THE   GOTTORP   FURY.  385 

in  order  to  harden  and  inure  himself  to  the  fatigues  of  real  war. 
He  would  frequently  rise  from  bed,  and  sleep  the  rest  of  the 
night  half-naked  on  the  bare  floor.  One  December,  he  slept 
three  consecutive  nights  without  undressing  on  the  hay  in  the 
stables.  Nothing  annoyed  him  so  much  as  his  delicate  skin 
and  fair  complexion.  He  used  every  means  to  get  sunburned, 
so  as  to  appear  manly,  and  took  a  childish  pride  in  some  pock- 
marks  on  his  face.  He  dressed  simply ;  he  wore  a  wig  until 
his  first  campaign  in  Denmark,  when  he  threw  it  aside  forever. 
He  ate  but  little,  and  always  plain  and  coarse  dishes.  Wine  he 
gave  up  after  finding  its  effects  too  strong  for  his  self-control. 

Cold  of  temperament,  of  love  Charles  knew  nothing,  and 
cared  little  for  the  society  of  ladies.  Six  princesses  sought  his 
hand  in  vain,  and  the  very  mention  of  marriage  distressed  him. 

The  freaks  of  Charles,  even  when  not  dangerous,  were  dis- 
agreeable to  those  about  him.  Their  worst  point  was  reached 
during  the  visit  of  his  cousin  Frederick  III.,  Duke  of  Holstein- 
Gottorp,  who  came  to  Stockholm  in  1698  to  marry  the  Princess 
Hedwiga  Sophia.  The  Duke  was  as  foolhardy  as  his  brother- 
in-law,  and  soon  acquired  great  influence  over  him.  Then  began 
what  was  called  the  '  Gottorp  Fury.'  The  royal  cousins  rode 
races  till  they  had  broken  down  several  horses  ;  they  coursed  a 
hare  in  the  parliament-house ;  for  days  they  practised  on  be- 
heading sheep,  in  order  to  see  which  had  the  greater  force  of 
hand,  and  the  greater  knack  with  the  sword — all  this,  too,  in 
the  private  apartments  of  the  palace,  till  the  floors  and  stair- 
cases were  running  with  blood.  This  was  to  the  great  astonish- 
ment of  the  passers-by,  for  the  bleeding  heads  were  thrown  out 
of  the  windows.1  They  sallied  into  the  streets  at  night,  and 
broke  the  windows  of  the  peaceful  citizens.  In  broad  daylight 
they  made  cavalcades  from  the  palace  with  no  costume  save 
their  shirts,  and  with  drawn  sabres  in  their  hands.  They 
jerked  off  the  hats  and  wigs  of  all  who  came  near  them.  At 
dinner,  when  they  had  tired  of  snapping  cherry-stones  into  the 

1  It  is  impossible  to  avoid  comparing  the  occupations  and  amusements  of 
the  three  strong  men  of  that  time :  Charles  riding  horses  to  death  and  be- 
heading sheep  and  bullocks ;  Augustus  the  Strong,  with  his  2G0  illegitimate 
children,  straightening  horseshoes  and  rolling  up  silver  plates  with  one  hand  ; 
Peter  hammering  out  iron  bars,  filling  fireworks,  and  building  ships. 
Vol.  I.— 25 


386  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

faces  of  the  privy-councillors,  they  would  knock  the  dishes  out 
of  the  servants'  hands,  and  then  break  all  the  furniture,  and 
throw  the  fragments  through  the  closed  windows,  shivering 
both  srlass  and  frame.  They  broke  all  the  benches  in  the 
palace  chapel,  so  that  the  congregation  had  to  hear  service 
standing.  Fortunately  the  Duke  was  unable  to  lead  Charles 
to  acts  of  immorality.  The  people  began  to  murmur.  They 
accused  the  Duke  of  wishing  to  bring  the  King  to  his  death, 
in  order  that,  as  the  next  heir,  he  might  inherit  the  crown. 
Things  got  to  such  a  pass  that,  on  one  Sunday  morning,  three 
clergymen  preached  on  the  same  text :  '  Woe  to  thee,  O  land, 
when  thy  king  is  a  child.'  This  remonstrance  seemed  to  affect 
( Jharles,  who  was  sincerely  pious.  When  the  Duke  went  away 
he  entirely  changed  his  manner  of  life,  became  quiet  and  reflec- 
tive, and  devoted  himself  with  renewed  ardour  to  his  duties  as 
a  ruler. 

A  year  later,  in  consequence  of  his  war  with  Denmark,  the 
Duke  came  again  to  Stockholm.  The  follies  of  the  preceding- 
year  were  not  repeated,  but  in  their  turn  were  masquerades, 
balls,  and  festivities  of  all  sorts.  The  court  of  Stockholm,  renew- 
ing the  traditions  of  the  reign  of  Christina,  became  suddenly 
the  most  brilliant  in  Europe,  except  that  of  Louis  XIV.,  and, 
of  course,  at  enormous  expense.  There  were  balls  which  cost 
40,000  thalers  each,  given  with  so  much  elegance  that  foreign- 
ers declared  they  were  unsurpassed  in  Paris.  A  French  com- 
pany played  the  works  of  Moliere,  Corneille,  and  Racine  during 
the  whole  winter,  and  the  King  was  nearly  always  a  spectator. 
There  were  processions  of  masks  through  the  streets,  which 
were  laid  with  blue  cloth.  All  the  lords  and  gentlemen  followed 
the  example  of  the  court,  not  even  excepting  the  clergy.  The 
pastor  of  the  great  city  church,  Iser,  gave  such  a  sumptuous 
dinner  that  everyone  went  home  with  the  headache.  The  King 
took  no  part  in  the  drunken  bouts,  but  danced  sometimes  until 
nine  or  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  which  necessitated  several 
changes  of  clothing.  Tessin,  who  arranged  the  court  festivities 
with  such  taste,  was  rewarded  with  a  title  of  nobility,  and  fre- 
quently went  home  with  his  pockets  stuffed  with  gold  by  an 
mi  seen  hand.  Again  this  manner  of  life  was  broken  by  a  ser- 
mon.    When  the  court  clergy  did  not  dare  to  speak,  Svedberg 


MAD  FKOLIC  OF  CIIAHLES  XII. 


1700.]  AVAR.  387 

persuaded  the  palace  chaplain  to  let  him  occupy  his  pulpit,  and 
delivered  a  thundering  sermon  against  the  project  of  having  a 
masked  ball  on  a  Sunday  evening.  The  ball  was  given  up. 
Just  then  came  the  news  of  the  invasion  of  Livonia  by  Augus- 
tus, and  the  festivities  were  for  ever  at  an  end. 

This  intelligence  arrived  when  Charles  was  hunting  bears 
at  his  favourite  country  seat  of  Kungsor.  It  seemed  to  make 
little  impression  on  him  at  the  time,  for  he  turned  to  the  French 
ambassador,  and  smilingly  said  :  '  We  will  make  King  Augus- 
tus go  back  by  the  way  he  came,'  and  the  sport  continued. 
"When  it  was  over,  Charles  returned  to  Stockholm,  looking  firm 
and  severe.  He  said  to  the  assembled  Council :  '  I  have  re- 
solved never  to  begin  an  unjust  war,  but  also  never  to  end  a 
just  one  without  overcoming  my  enemy ; '  and  on  another  oc- 
casion :  '  It  is  curious  that  both  my  cousins '  (for  Augustus,  as 
well  as  King  Frederick  IV.  of  Denmark,  was  cousin  to  Charles) 
'  wish  to  make  war  on  me.  So  be  it !  But  King  Augustus  has 
broken  his  wTord.  Our  cause  is  then  just,  and  God  will  help 
us.  I  intend  first  to  finish  with  one,  and  then  I  will  talk  with 
the  other.' 

Military  preparations  were  pushed  on  with  great  vigour 
both  by  land  and  sea.  The  clergy  and  the  civil  officials  were 
each  ordered  to  furnish  a  regiment  of  dragoons,  the  burghers 
of  Stockholm  a  regiment  of  infantry.  A  few  of  the  higher 
nobility  followed  the  old  custom  of  arming  single  companies. 
The  fleet  in  Karlskrona  was  fitted  for  sea,  and  all  the  vessels  in 
Stockholm  were  seized  on  behalf  of  the  Government  for  trans- 
port service.  The  financial  difficulty  was  the  greatest.  There 
was  no  money.  Charles  XL  had  collected  a  large  treasure  for 
military  purposes,  and  had  left  more  than  four  and  a  half  mil- 
lion of  thalers.  All  this  Charles  XII.  had  spent  in  two  years 
by  the  extravagance  of  his  court,  and  by  his  lavish  generosity 
to  the  Duke  of  Holstein-Gottorp,  to  his  friends  and  favourites, 
and  even  to  families  of  the  nobility  who  had  been  impoverished 
by  the  '  Reduction.'  Even  all  the  plate  in  the  '  Elephant  Vault ' 
had  been  melted  down.  During  the  '  Gottorp  Fury,'  Charles 
had  spent  twenty  thousand  thalers  of  pocket-money  in  four 
days,  and  no  one  knew  what  had  become  of  it.  Besides  large 
sums  which  he  gave  openly  as  presents,  he  had  a  habit,  in  order 


388  PETEK  THE   GREAT. 

to  escape  thanks,  of  secretly  tilling  with  money  the  pockets  of 
his  favourites.  A  chest  of  jewels,  which  had  stood  for  years  in 
the  '  Elephant  Vault,'  was  brought  to  Charles's  bed-chamber 
and  was  speedily  emptied.  There  had  been  left  in  the  mili- 
tary chests  of  the  fortresses  and  regiments,  by  the  economy  of 
Charles  XL,  savings  to  the  amount  of  six  hundred  and  seventy 
thousand  thalers.  Great  sums  had  been  taken  even  from  this. 
Not  enough  remained  in  the  treasury  of  the  state  to  pay  all  the 
expenses  of  his  sister's  marriage,  and  Charles  wished  to  raise  a 
loan  by  pledging  Pomerania  or  Bremen.  Now  that  money 
was  still  more  necessary  for  war,  it  became  imperative  to  re- 
impose  the  war  tax,  which  had  been  abolished  by  Charles  XL 
This  brought  in  a  million  thalers,  but  as  it  was  insufficient,  the 
King  called  for  voluntary  contributions.  Piper,  Wrede,  and  Sten- 
bock  gave  among  them  twenty  thousand  thalers,  though  this 
example  found  few  followers.  The  citizens  of  Stockholm  con- 
tributed thirty  thousand  thalers.  In  order  to  excite  enthusiasm 
among  the  nobility,  Charles  finally  decided  to  cancel  any  fur- 
ther proceedings  under  the  '  Reduction '  laws  of  his  father. 
This  important  edict  was  signed  on  April  23,  1700,  and  on  the 
same  evening  the  King  took  leave  of  his  grandmother  and  his 
sisters,  in  order,  as  he  said,  to  go  for  some  time  to  Kungsor. 
In  the  night  he  quietly  left  the  palace,  and  turned  southward. 
He  never  again  saw  Stockholm,  his  grandmother,  or  his  elder 
sister. 

There  would  have  been  no  need  of  a  war  with  Denmark 
had  it  not  been  that  Charles  had  promised  the  Duke  of  Hol- 
stein-Gottorp,  when  he  came  to  him  for  protection  in  1699,  that 
he  would  right  him,  even  though  it  cost  him  his  crown.  This 
agreement  was  greatly  blamed  by  all  the  King's  counsellors, 
but  too  late — the  King's  word  had  been  given.  Everyone  dis- 
liked the  Holstein-Gottorp  family,  and  all  feared  the  cost  of  a 
war.  What  the  disputes  were  between  Denmark  and  Holstein- 
Gottorp  it  is  difficult  and  unnecessary  to  explain.  The  King 
of  Denmark  knew  that  the  forts  in  Slesvig  were  occupied  by 
Swedish  garrisons,  and  he  knew,  too,  the  Swedish  threats  of 
interference  in  case  he  attacked  the  Duke.  Nevertheless,  in 
conjunction  with  Poland  and  Russia,  he  had  resolved  to  run 
the  risk. 


1700.]  DENMARK   BEATEN.  389 

Kow  that  war  was  come,  in  consequence  of  Charles's  rash 
promise,  it  was  certainly  wiser  to  finish  with  Denmark,  the 
nearer  and  more  dangerous  foe,  before  attacking  King  Augus- 
tus. After  leaving  Stockholm,  Charles  made  a  hasty  journey 
through  the  southern  provinces,  to  assure  himself  of  the  mili- 
tary preparations.  The  fleet  immediately  set  sail  and  occupied 
the  Sound  in  connection  with  the  fleets  of  England  and  Hol- 
land, who  also  guaranteed  the  peace  between  Denmark  and 
Holstein.  Charles  resolved  now  to  cross  over  to  Zealand,  and 
make  an  attack  on  Copenhagen  while  the  Danish  King  was 
occupied  with  the  siege  of  Tonning.  This  plan  was  successful. 
With  six  thousand  men,  which  were  all  the  troops  at  that  time 
collected  at  Malmo,  Charles  crossed  the  straits  on  August  3, 
1700,  waded  ashore  at  the  head  of  his  men,  under  the  enemy's 
fire,  and  secured  a  firm  position  between  Copenhagen  and 
Helsingo'r.  The  next  day  was  stormy,  and  had  the  troops  and 
militia  of  Copenhagen  attacked  the  Swedes,  they  might  have 
given  them  a  severe  check.  But  the  time  passed,  and,  on  the 
next  day,  which  was  clear,  seven  to  eight  thousand  more  men 
crossed,  and  made  the  force  of  Charles  too  large  for  the  little 
Danish  army  to  resist.  The  assault  on  Tonning  by  the  Danish 
troops  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  King  hastened  back  to  protect 
his  capital.  He  saw  himself  powerless,  and  signed  a  peace  at 
Travendal  on  August  18,  in  which  he  agreed  to  recognise  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Duke  of  Holstein-Gottorp,  and  to  pay  him  a 
war  indemnity  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  thalers.  In 
two  weeks  from  the  crossing  of  the  straits,  this  almost  bloodless 
war  was  over.  Charles  for  a  moment  thought  of  carrying  on 
an  independent  war  on  his  own  account  against  the  Danes  ;  but 
for  once — the  last  if  not  the  first  time  of  his  life — he  listened 
to  good  counsel  and  desisted.  He  won  more  fame  by  this  than 
he  would  have  done  by  taking  Copenhagen.  By  the  manner 
in  which  he  had  treated  them  he  had  already  secured  the  re- 
spect and  esteem  of  the  population  of  Zealand,  who  still  re- 
membered his  mother  with  affection.  He  recrossed  the  Sound 
to  Sweden  on  September  2.1 

1  Fryxell,  vol.   i.  ;   Voltaire,   Charles  XII.  ;  F.   F.  Carlson,   Carl.  XIl.'s 
forsta  regeringsdr,  in  Historisk  Tidskrift,  Stockholm,  1881. 


XLL 

THE  BATTLE  OF  NARVA.— 1700. 

The  great  object  of  Peter  in  making  war  upon  Sweden  was 
to  obtain  possession  of  the  provinces  of  Ingria  and  Karelia  on 
the  Finnish  gulf,  which  had  once  belonged  to  Russia,  but  had 
been  seized  by  Sweden  during  the  Troublous  Times.  Ingria,  or, 
as  the  Swedes  called  it,  Ingermanland,  known  in  the  old  Rus- 
sian chronicles  as  the  land  of  Izhora,  was  a  comparatively  nar- 
row strip  of  country  extending  along  the  southern  coast  of  the 
gulf  from  the  Neva  to  the  Narova.  Karelia  included  the  coun- 
try between  the  gulf  and  Lake  Ladoga,  as  far  as  Kexholm  and 
Yiborg.  The  possession  of  this  region  would  give  to  Russia 
the  river  Neva,  and,  besides  the  possibility  of  having  a  seaport, 
would  furnish  Novgorod  with  free  access  to  the  Baltic  by  the 
way  of  the  river  Volkhof,  Lake  Ladoga,  and  the  Neva,  and 
would  also  enable  an  easy  communication,  for  the  most  part  by 
water,  to  be  made  between  the  Gulf  of  Finland  and  Archangel. 
The  annexation  of  Narva,  the  frontier  fortress  of  Esthonia, 
was  not  included  in  Peter's  plans,  but  he  believed,  especially 
at  the  time  when  war  was  declared,  that  the  surest  way  for  him 
to  secure  the  coveted  territory  was  to  attack  and  capture  Narva, 
by  which  means  the  communications  of  Livonia  and  Esthonia 
with  the  Neva  would  be  entirely  cut  off.  Near  Narva  the 
Russian  boundary  was  only  about  twenty  miles  from  the  sea. 

The  orders  to  march  on  Narva  were  much  to  the  distaste 
of  Patkul,  and  of  Baron  Langen,  the  envoy  of  King  Augustus. 
Langen  wished  these  provinces  to  come  to  his  master  ;  Patkul, 
as  a  Livonian,  did  not  wish  his  country  to  be  conquered  by 
anyone,  especially  by  the  Russians,  and  hoped  that,  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  war,  it  would  gain  a  position  of  semi-independence. 

The  command-in-chief  of  the  troops  was  given  to  Theodore 


# 


1700.]  NARVA.  391 

Golovin,  admiral  and  ambassador,  now  created  field-marshal, 
and  who  was  actually  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  There  were 
three  divisions,  respectively  under  Avtemon  Golovin,  Adam 
Weyde,  and  Nikita  Repnin.  Altogether,  including  a  force  of 
Cossacks,  63,520  men  were  assigned  to  this  expedition.  The 
Tsar  himself,  as  an  officer  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regiment,  ac- 
companied the  advance.  At  Tver,  he  received  a  message  from 
Augustus,  that  King  Charles  with  18,000  men  would  soon  laud 
at  Pernau,  from  which  he  would  be  within  striking  distance 
both  of  Narva  and  Riga.  The  news  was  premature,  but  it 
caused  Peter  great  perplexity,  because,  if  true,  it  meant  that  the 
Danes  had  been  beaten,  and  that  the  Swedes  had  finished  with 
one  ally  and  were  free  to  deal  with  the  others.  Orders  were 
given  to  stop  the  advance,  but  as  Peter  became  convinced,  by  the 
examination  of  prisoners,  that  the  garrison  of  Narva  was  small, 
and  that  no  troops  had  yet  arrived  from  Sweden,  he  resolved 
to  prosecute  the  war,  and  arrived  at  Narva  on  October  4. 
With  the  assistance  of  General  Hallart,  who  had  been  sent  by 
King  Augustus,  he  immediately  began  to  get  ready  for  a  siege. 
Peter  now  found  that,  even  although  he  had  begun  the  war 
late,  he  had  not  made  sufficient  preparations  for  it.  The  roads 
were  in  a  fearful  state,  and  everyone  who  knows  what  a  Rus- 
sian road  is  now,  can  imagine  what  they  were  in  a  rainy  au- 
tumn, when  chaussees  were  unknown.  The  means  of  transport 
were  utterly  insufficient.  No  provision  had  been  made  for  it, 
except  to  seize  the  horses  and  carts  in  the  towns  and  villages 
through  which  the  troops  passed.  There  was  no  artillery  harness, 
the  carts  were  all  weak,  and  the  horses  broke  down  with  the  bad 
roads  and  the  heavy  service.  Peter  kept  sending  urgent  sum- 
monses from  his  camp  before  Narva,  and  Golovin  did  his 
utmost  to  hurry  them  on,  but  it  was  not  until  October  29  that 
the  troops  from  Moscow  and  Novgorod  arrived,  suffering  from 
cold,  hunger,  and  exposure.  The  division  of  Repnin,  which 
had  come  from  the  Volga  country,  was  far  behind,  and  the 
Cossacks  did  not  make  their  appearance.  In  all,  there  were 
rather  less  than  forty  thousand  men. 

Narva  (called  also  in  old  Russian  chronicles  Rugodiv),  which 
was  built  by  the  Danes  in  the  thirteenth  century,  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  river  Narova,  eight  miles  from  its  mouth,  was  then 


392  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

a  seaport  of  considerable  importance  for  the  trade  coming  from 
N6vgorod  and  Pskof.  In  the  flourishing  times  of  the  Iianseatic 
League  it  was  not  unknown,  but  it  suffered  so  terribly  from  the 
frequent  border  wars  that  its  trade  at  that  time  received  no 
great  development.  The  city  was  surrounded  by  a  stout  wall, 
consisting,  on  the  land  side,  of  six  bastions,  built  of  earth  and 
partly  faced  with  stone,  and  of  a  wall  and  three  bastions  of 
stone  on  the  river  side.  At  the  southern  end,  on  a  half-de- 
tached hill,  was  the  citadel,  with  its  old  tower,  still  known  as 
Der  JaiKjt  Hermann.  Connected  by  a  good  stone  bridge  was 
the  old  and  still  picturesque  castle  of  Ivangorod,  built  by  the 
Russians  in  1492  to  overawe  Narva,  but  at  this  time  forming- 
part  of  the  defences  of  the  town.  The  fortress  was  well  armed, 
but  the  garrison,  under  the  command  of  Rudolph  Horn,  was 
small,  consisting  of  thirteen  hundred  infantry,  two  hundred  cav- 
alry, and  about  four  hundred  armed  citizens.  In  appearance, 
Narva  was  like  many  an  old  German  town,  and  even  now,  from 
the  public  garden,  the  old  brick  gables  rising  above  the  trees 
and  walls  have  a  picturesque  and  thoroughly  un-Russian  air. 
The  political  and  social  importance  of  Narva  has  now  dimin- 
ished, but  the  foreign  trade  is  still  not  inconsiderable,  and  the 
rapids  of  the  Narova,  just  above  the  town,  furnish  water-power 
for  large  cloth  and  linen  factories. 

The  Russian  line  of  circumvallation,  which  was  entirely  on 
the  left  or  western  side  of  the  river,  extended  from  near  the 
rapids  above  the  town — about  where  the  factories  are  now  situ- 
ated— to  the  village  of  Yepsa-kyla,  two  miles  below  the  city 
walls.  In  all  it  was  about  seven  miles  in  length.  Earthworks 
were  also  thrown  up  opposite  to  the  castle  of  Ivangorod.  The 
lines  were  laid  out  under  the  personal  supervision  of  the  Tsar, 
who  took  up  his  quarters  near  Yepsa-kyla,  on  the  little  grassy 
island  of  Kamperholm,  which,  from  changes  in  the  river's  cur- 
rent, has  long  since  disappeared.  At  Kamperholm  the  river 
was  crossed  by  a  bridge ;  here  was  the  nucleus  of  the  Russian 
camp,  and  here  the  stores  and  ammunition  were  concentrated. 
The  artillery  at  last  arrived,  and  was  put  into  position,  and  on 
October  31  the  bombardment  began  from  eight  batteries  on  the 
Narva  side,  and  also  from  the  trenches  in  front  of  Ivangorod. 
The  artillery  fire  continued  day  and  night  for  two  weeks  with- 


1700.]  SIEGE   OF  NAKVA.  393 

out  success.  The  constant  sorties  of  the  Swedes  troubled  the 
Russians,  and  the  gun-carriages  were  so  badly  made,  or  so  in- 
jured by  transportation,  that  they  usually  fell  to  pieces  after 
three  or  four  discharges.  The  powder  also  was  bad.  On  No- 
vember 17,  it  was  found  that  there  was  not  sufficient  ammuni- 
tion to  carry  on  the  bombardment  from  the  new  breach  batter- 
ies for  even  twenty-four  hours.  It  was  necessary,  therefore,  to 
stand  still  until  new  supplies  arrived.  At  the  same  time,  in- 
formation was  received  that  King  Augustus  had  retired  from 
before  Riga,  and  had  shut  himself  up  in  Kokenhusen,  and  that 
Charles  XII.  had  landed  at  Pernau  with  an  army  magnified  by 
rumour  to  thirty-two  thousand  men.  Sheremetief  had  been 
sent  to  Wesenberg,  eighty  miles  west  of  Narva  on  the  road  to 
Reval,  with  a  force  of  five  thousand  irregular  cavalry,  to  observe 
the  Swedish  movements.  At  Purtis  he  had  a  meeting  with 
the  enemy,  and  got  a  slight  advantage,  taking  a  few  prisoners. 
After  ravaging  and  burning  the  country,  he  wisely  retreated  to 
Pyhajoggi,  a  strong  pass,  capable  of  easy  defence,  and  blocking 
the  only  road  to  Narva.  This  pass  Sheremetief  desired  to  for- 
tify, but  the  Tsar,  who  did  not  fully  appreciate  the  situation, 
rejected  the  advice,  blamed  the  retreat  as  well  as  the  devasta- 
tion of  the  country,  and  sent  Sheremetief  back  toward  Wesen- 
berg. Instead  of  occupying  Pyhajoggi  in  force,  it  was  decided 
to  fortify  the  Russian  camp  on  the  land  side  against  an  attack 
by  the  Swedes,  and  meanwhile  vigorously  prosecute  the  siege. 
Two  assaults  were  attempted  on  Ivangorod,  but  as  no  breaches 
had  been  made  in  the  wall,  they  were  easily  repulsed. 

As  the  first  siege  of  Azof  was  marked  by  an  act  of  treach- 
ery, so,  now,  Hummert,  an  Esthonian  by  birth,  an  officer  who 
had  been  much  favoured  and  liked  by  Peter,  and  who  had  re- 
cently been  promoted  to  be  major  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regi- 
ment, went  over  to  the  enemy.  He  had  left  his  wife  and 
children  in  Moscow,  and  it  was  for  a  time  thought  that  he  had 
been  killed  or  taken  prisoner,  and  message  was  sent  to  the  town 
to  treat  him  well,  under  threat  of  reprisals.  Soon  it  was  found 
out  that  he  had  deserted.  Subsequently,  Hummert,  pretending 
that  he  had  gone  to  Narva  as  a  spy,  with  the  design  of  aiding 
the  Russians,  wrote  to  the  Tsar  several  letters,  asking  for  money, 
and  giving  counsels  about  carrying  on  the  war,  and  criticisms 


394  PETER  THE   GKEAT. 

on  the  siege.  He  ascribed  the  failure  to  the  want  of  discipline, 
to  the  unwillingness  of  the  Russian  officers  to  work  and  to  obey 
orders,  and  to  bad  generalship.  Hunimert's  letters  were  unan- 
swered, and  the  only  revenge  of  Peter  was  to  hang  him  in 
effigy  before  the  house  he  had  given  him  in  Moscow,  of  which 
his  wife  remained  in  undisturbed  possession.  The  suspicious 
Swedes  hanged  him  in  reality.  The  desertion  of  Hummert 
caused  a  general  panic.  The  troops  in  the  trenches  were 
strengthened  against  a  sortie,  and  the  Tsar  was  begged  to  take 
safer  quarters. 

On  the  28th  of  November,  Peter  left  the  army  and  went  to 
Novgorod ;  partly  in  order  to  hurry  up  the  ammunition  and 
reinforcements — for  everything  moved  faster  when  he  put  his 
hand  to  the  wheel — and  partly  to  have  an  interview  with  King 
Augustus,  and  decide  on  the  future  conduct  of  the  war.  Pie 
showed,  at  other  times,  proofs  enough  of  his  personal  bravery 
to  refute  the  charge"  of  cowardice  brought  against  him  by  his 
enemies,  even  though  we  remember  his  ignominious  flight  to 
Tro'itsa  in  16S9.  The  conduct  of  Augustus  in  withdrawing 
from  Riga  seemed  suspicious  to  him,  and  he  had  already  sent 
Prince  Gregory  Dolgoruky  to  the  Saxon  camp  to  find  out  what 
was  really  going  on,  and  whether  there  was  any  talk  of  over- 
tures of  peace,  and  to  arrange  an  interview  for  him  with  the 
King.  Baron  Langen,  in  writing  to  the  King  on  the  very  day 
of  the  Tsar's  departure,  presses  him  to  appoint  a  place  for  an 
interview,  as  he  could  easily  go  from  Warsaw  to  the  Diina  in 
four  days.  The  Tsar  would  start  as  soon  as  the  courier  re- 
turned. He,  Langen,  would  go  to  Mitau  during  the  Tsar's 
absence.  All  this  seemed  to  show,  not  fear,  but  over-confi- 
dence. With  the  slowness  of  the  Russian  operations,  neither 
Peter  nor  those  about  him  appreciated  the  rapidity  of  the 
Swedish  movements  under  Charles,  nor  really  understood  the 
danger.  It  was  expected  that  the  siege  would  be  still  going  on 
when  Peter  should  return. 

The  Tsar  took  with  him  the  field-marshal  Golovin,  who,  as 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  was  necessary  to  conduct  the  ne- 
gotiations with  Augustus,  and  especially  with  Poland.  Peter 
still  had  hopes  of  drawing  the  Republic  into  the  war ;  the 
treaty  had  been  made  with  Augustus  as  Elector  of  Saxony,  and 


1700.]  CHANGE   OF   COMMAND.  395 

the  Republic  was  as  yet  not  engaged.  The  command  of  the 
army  was  intrusted  to  the  Duke  de  Croy.  Charles  Eugene, 
Duke  de  Croy,  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  Margrave, 
Baron,  and  Lord  of  many  lands,  had  served  with  distinction  for 
fifteen  years  in  the  Austrian  wars  against  the  Turks,  and  had 
risen  to  he  field-marshal  and  commander-in-chief.  Having 
been  for  some  reason  relieved  of  his  command,  and  crying  out 
against  Austrian  ingratitude,  he  presented  himself  to  the  Tsar 
in  Amsterdam  in  1098.  No  arrangement  was  made  with  him 
at  the  time,  and  the  Duke  entered  the  service  of  King  Augus- 
tus, and  was  sent  by  him  to  the  Tsar  just  before  the  siege  of 
Narva.  Peter  was  pleased  with  him,  took  him  to  Narva,  and 
had  the  intention  of  appointing  him  commander-in-chief,  but 
the  execution  of  the  project  Mas  delayed.  He  was  only  forty- 
nine  years  old,  and  certainly  had  greater  military  knowledge 
and  experience  than  any  officer  of  the  Russian  army.  Had  he 
been  appointed  sooner,  he  might  have  served  the  Tsar  in  good 
stead,  but  it  was  now  too  late.1  The  Duke  himself  saw  this, 
and  pleaded  his  ignorance  of  the  language  and  his  want  of  ac- 
quaintance with  the  officers  as  reasons  for  refusing.  He  at  last 
consented,  and  Peter  gave  him  written  instructions  with  abso- 
lute power  over  the  whole  army.  In  these  instructions  he  was 
ordered  to  wait  for  the  arrival  of  the  ammunition  before  be- 
ginning the  attack,  and  meanwhile  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out  for 
the  approach  of  the  Swedes,  and  prevent  them  from  relieving 
the  town.  Langen,  in  writing  to  the  King,  said  :  k  I  hope 
when  the  Duke  de  Croy  shall  have  the  absolute  command  that 
our  affairs  will  take  quite  another  turn,  for  he  has  no  more 
wine  or  brandy ;  and  being  therefore  deprived  of  his  element, 
he  will  doubtless  double  his  assaults  to  get  nearer  to  the  cellar 
of  the  commandant.'  Evidently,  no  one  in  the  least  expected 
what  a  surprise  was  in  store  for  them  all  in  only  a  few  hours' 
time. 

Charles,  after  his  return  from  Denmark,  was  in  the  south 
of  Sweden,  pressing  the  preparations  for  the  expedition  to  Li- 
vonia, when  he  received  the  news  of  the  appearance  of  the  Rus- 

1  On  hearing  of  the  death  of  the  Duke  in  1702,  Peter  said  :  *  If  I  had 
given  him  the  command  of  my  camp  fourteen  days  sooner,  I  should  not  have 
suffered  the  defeat  of  Narva.' 


396  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

sian  troops  before  Narva.  This  made  him  still  more  anxious 
to  start,  and  he  was  so  busy  that  lie  would  not  even  see  the 
court,  which  was  in  the  neighbouring  town  of  Christianstad, 
saying  that  he  had  no  time  to  receive  ladies.  A  private  letter 
from  Karlshamn,  written  about  this  time,  gives  us  a  notion  of 
the  feelings  of  the  King. 

'We  had  the  hope  that  His  Majesty  would  return  to  Stock- 
holm, but  he  is  resolved  to  go  to  Livonia,  cost  what  it  may. 
That  the  King  has  acted  as  though  he  would  return  to  Stock- 
holm has  been  in  order  to  deceive,  and  especially  to  keep  the 
French  and  Brandenburg  ambassadors  from  coming  here.  For 
he  tries  to  avoid  meeting  these  gentlemen,  in  order  not  to  be 
obliged  to  listen  to  proposals  of  peace,  which,  it  is  said,  they 
are  commissioned  to  place  before  him.  He  wishes,  at  any 
price,  to  fight  with  King  Augustus,  and  is  annoyed  at  anything 
which  seems  likely  to  hinder  his  doing  this.  One  evening,  as 
he  was  just  about  getting  into  bed,  Count  Polus  came  and  said 
that  important  intelligence  had  arrived,  which  needed  to  be 
immediately  communicated  to  him.  The  King  turned  hastily 
toward  Polus,  and  made  him  one  bow  after  another  until,  in 
this  way,  he  had  complimented  him  out  of  the  door.  He  was 
afraid  that  Polus  and  Akerhjelm,  in  their  reports,  might  let 
fall  some  words  about  peace  and  arrangement,  and  carried  this 
so  far  that  those  gentlemen  could  never  get  his  signature  to  the 
papers  they  had  to  send,  unless  when  Piper  came  to  their  aid.' 

The  whole  preparations  for  the  new  war  lasted  less  than  six 
weeks,  and,  leaving  Karlskrona  on  the  11th  of  October,  after 
spurning  all  appeals  for  delay  on  account  of  the  stormy  season, 
Charles  arrived  at  Pernau,  on  the  Gulf  of  Piga,  on  the  16th, 
having  suffered  severely  from  sea-sickness  on  the  journey. 
Some  of  the  troops  landed  at  Pernau,  and  others  were  driven 
by  stress  of  weather  to  Keval— about  8,000  in  all.  The  fleet 
returned  to  Sweden  for  4,000  more  men  and  the  rest  of  the 
artillery.  The  first  intention  of  Charles  was  to  attack  Augus- 
tus, but  he  soon  received  the  news  that  the  Saxons  had  given 
up  the  siege  of  Riga,  and  had  retired  into  winter  quarters  at 
Kokenhusen.  Time  was  necessary  for  the  arrival  of  all  the 
troops,  and  for  obtaining  accurate  information  of  the.  position 
and  movements  of  the  enemy ;    but  on  the  loth  of  Xovember 


1700.]  BATTLE   OF   NAEVA.  397 

Charles  was  able  to  set  out  from  Reval,  and  on  the  23d  began 
the  inarch  from  Wesenberg.  The  troops  were  allowed  to  take 
no  baggage  except  their  knapsacks,  and  in  spite  of  the  cold,  the 
swamps,  the  bad  food,  and  the  difficulties  of  the  march,  reached 
Pyhajoggi  in  four  days. 

The  pass  was  not  fortified,  and  the  troops  of  Sheremetief 
were  quickly  driven  back  toward  Narva.  The  strong  pass  of 
Silamaggi  was  also  left  without  defence,  and  on  the  morning 
after  Peter's  departure,  Sheremetief  came  into  camp  saying 
that  the  Swedes  were  closely  following  him.  A  council  of  war 
was  at  once  held  in  the  Russian  camp,  additional  rounds  of  am- 
munition were  served  out,  and  the  vigilance  redoubled.  But 
that  day  and  night  passed  quietly.  The  next  morning,  Novem- 
ber 30,  at  about  eleven  o'clock,  the  Swedish  forces  appeared  in 
battle-array  from  behind  the  woods  on  the  top  of  the  Her- 
mannsberg.  There  were  only  20,000  Russians  fit  for  service, 
and  these  were  extended  along  a  line  of  seven  miles.  Although 
the  Swedes  did  not  number  9,000  men,  it  was  comparatively 
easy  for  them  in  their  sudden  onset,  under  cover  of  a  cannonade, 
to  pierce  the  thin  Russian  lines.  They  were  assisted  in  this  by 
a  sudden  snow-storm,  which  blew  in  the  face  of  the  Russians, 
and  prevented  their  seeing  more  than  twenty  feet  from  them. 
The  Russians  were  panic-stricken,  and,  with  the  want  of  confi- 
dence which  they  had  in  their  new  general,  cried  out  '  The 
Germans  have  betrayed  its,'  and  rled  in  confusion.  Shereme- 
tief was  one  of  the  first  to  run.  With  his  cavalry,  he  headed 
immediately  for  the  river  ISarova,  near  the  cataracts,  and  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  across,  although  very  many  men  were  lost  in 
the  rapids.  The  majority  went  the  other  way  to  the  Kamper- 
holm  bridge.  The  bridge  broke  down,  and  many  men  were 
lost.  Two  regiments,  the  Preobrazhensky  and  the  Semenof sky, 
which  were  protecting  the  artillery  park,  and  had  surrounded 
themselves  with  a  little  fortification,  held  their  ground.  With 
them  were  the  Duke  de  Croy,  General  Hallart,  and  Baron  Lan- 
gen.  Although  the  Russians  stood  firm  against  the  enemy,  yet 
they  were  in  great  confusion.  They  cried  out  against  the  for- 
eign officers,  and  killed  several  of  them.  Seeing  this,  and 
fearing  for  his  life,  the  Duke  de  Croy  said  to  those  near  him, 
^The  devil  could  not  fight  with  such  soldiers '  and  made  his 


398  PETEK   THE   GREAT. 

way  through  the  swamps  toward  the  Swedish  lines,  followed  by 
llailait,  Langen,  and  Blumberg,  the  commander  of  the  Preo- 
brazhensky  regiment.  Stenbock,  who  for  a  long  time  could 
not  he  found  in  the  darkness,  received  them  politely  and  took 
them  to  the  King.  The  Russian  generals,  Prince  Dolgoriiky, 
Prince  Alexander  of  Imeritia,  Avtemon  Golovin,  and  Butur- 
lin,  after  holding  a  council  in  a  bomb-proof,  decided  to  surren- 
der. They  wished  to  keep  their  artillery,  but  the  King  was 
inexorable,  and  finally  it  was  agreed  that  on  the  next  day  they 
should  retreat  with  their  banners  and  arms,  but  with  only  six 
guns.  General  "VVeyde,  who  was  on  the  extreme  right  flank, 
and  Mas  wounded,  knew  nothing  of  the  defeat  till  Buturlinsent 
him  word  of  the  capitulation.  He  then  followed  the  example. 
Count  "Wrede  wrote  to  his  father  a  few  days  afterward  : 

'  Yet  if  he  had  had  the  courage  to  attack  us,  he  would  have 
infallibly  beaten  us,  for  we  were  extremely  tired,  having  scarcely 
eaten  or  slept  for  several  days,  and  besides  this,  all  our  men  were 
drunk  with  the  brandy  that  they  had  found  in  the  Muscovite 
tents,  so  that  it  was  impossible  for  the  few  officers  that  remained 
to  keep  them  in  order.' 

The  confusion  and  panic  of  the  Russians  were  very  great. 
Hallart  says : 

'  They  ran  about  like  a  herd  of  cattle,  one  regiment  mixed 
up  with  the  other,  so  that  hardly  twenty  men  could  be  got  into 
line.' 

The  next  day  the  bridge  to  Kamperholm  was  repaired,  and 
the  Russians  were  allowed  to  retreat,  but  the  generals  were  all 
declared  prisoners  of  war,  on  the  ground  that  the  troops  had  car- 
ried away  with  them  the  army  chest,  containing  300,000  rubles, 
in  contravention  of  the  capitulation.  Nothing,  however,  had  been 
said  in  the  agreement  on  this  point.  The  Russian  loss  was  about 
5,700  men.  Seventy-nine  officers,  including  nine  generals,  were 
taken  prisoners.  The  Swedes  captured,  in  addition,  149  cannon 
and  32  mortars,  including  many  of  the  guns  which  Charles 
himself  had  given  to  Peter  before  the  war,  and  146  banners. 
The  Swedish  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  was  less  than  2,000. 

Charles  had  constantly  exposed  himself  to  great  personal 
danger.  lie  was  always  in  the  thick  of  the  fight,  and  in  order 
to  get  around  a  mound  of  corpses  fell  into  a  morass,  from  which 


1700.]  BATTLE   OF   NARVA.  399 

lie  was  extricated  with  difficulty,  and  where  he  was  obliged  to 
leave  his  horse,  his  weapons,  and  one  of  his  boots.  He  imme- 
diately mounted  another  horse,  which  was  soon  killed  under 
him,  while  he  himself  was  hit  by  a  spent  ball,  which  was  dead- 
ened by  his  necktie,  and  was  afterward  found  in  his  clothes. 
An  officer  immediately  sprang  from  his  saddle  and  offered  him 
his  horse.  The  King  in  mounting  said  laughingly :  '  I  see  that 
the  enemy  want  me  to  practise  riding.' ' 

1  Solovief,  xiv.  ;  Ustrialof,  IV.  i.  ii.  ;  Fryxell,  I.  ;  K.  Lundblad,  Geschichte 
Karl  des  Z  wolf  ten  (German  Transl.  of  G.  V.  v.  Jensen),  Hamburg,  1835  ;  C.  v. 
Sarauw,  Die  Feldzilge  KarVs  XII.,  Leipzig,  1881  ;  Golikof,  Actions  of  Peter 
the  Great  (Russian),  Moscow,  1837;  Journal  of  the  Swedish  War  (Russian), 
St.  Petersburg,  1770. 


XLII. 

AFTER  THE  BATTLE. 

The  fate  of  prisoners  of  war  in  those  days  was  not  enviable. 
General  II  all  art  was  obliged  to  give  up  all  his  private  papers 
and  the  memoranda  he  had  made  of  the  siege,  and,  more  than 
that,  experienced  the  personal  anger  of  King  Charles  because 
the  answers  to  his  questions  with  regard  to  the  number  of 
troops  were  not  to  his  liking.  Charles  insisted  that'  the  Rus- 
sians had  at  least  80,000  men,  whereas  Hallart  could  not  make 
out  more  than  30,000,  including  the  disabled.  All  the  prison- 
ers were  sent  under  strict  guard  to  Peval,  and  the  next  spring 
to  Sweden,  except  the  Duke  de  Croy,  who  was  allowed  to  re- 
main at  Iteval  with  Dr.  Carbonari,  the  body  physician  of  the 
Tsar.  The  King  respected  the  high  personal  and  military  rank 
of  the  Duke,  and  immediately  after  the  battle  sent  him  1,500 
Swedish  ducats  and  food  and  wine  from  his  own  table,  when  the 
other  prisoners  were  almost  starving.  While  at  Iteval,  De  Croy 
wrote  to  Peter,  Menshikof,  and  Golovin,  asking  for  money,  and 
explaining  how  he  had  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket  the  expenses 
of  the  foreign  officers  who  had  accompanied  him  to  Russia,  and 
what  great  expense  he  was  put  to  at  Heval.  In  reply  to  his 
first  letter  Peter  sent  him  6,000  rubles,  but  he  was  so  lavish  that 
this  amount  did  not  go  far,  and  by  no  means  sufficed  for  his 
needs.  At  his  death,  in  the  spring  of  1702,  his  debts  were  so 
great  that  his  creditors  put  into  force  an  old  law  refusing  burial 
to  insolvent  debtors.  His  body  was  kept  in  the  cellar  of  the 
church  of  St.  Xicholas,  the  antiseptic  properties  of  which  pre- 
vented it  from  decaying,  and  up  to  a  few  years  ago — when  by 
an  order  of  the  Russian  Government  it  was  finally  interred — it 
was  still  shown  to  travellers  as  a  curiosity.  Baron  Langen  and 
General  Hallart  were  exchanged  in  1705,  but  the  other  prison- 


1700.]  THE   PRISONERS.  401 

ers  remained  in  Sweden  for  many  years,  as  did  Prince  Ililkof, 
who  had  been  arrested  by  royal  order  as  soon  as  it  had  become 
known  that  the  Russians  had  declared  war.  Ililkof,  who  had 
sincerely  believed  in  the  Tsar's  peaceful  designs,  and,  it  is  said, 
complained  bitterly  of  those  who  had  persuaded  him  to  accept 
the  mission  to  Sweden,  had  to  pay  in  person  for  the  double- 
dealing  of  his  master.  He  was  treated  with  great  severity ;  all 
writing  materials  were  taken  from  him,  and  at  first  a  guard  of 
soldiers  was  stationed  even  in  his  bedroom.  Later  the  authori- 
ties contented  themselves  with  placing  a  guard  outside  his  house. 
He  never  again  saw  his  country,  but  died  in  Yesteras  in  1715. 
Prince  Alexander  of  Imeritia  was  held  by  the  Swedes  at  a  high 
price.  At  one  time  they  demanded  ten  kegs  of  gold ;  at  an- 
other they  agreed  to  exchange  him  for  twenty  captains,  twenty 
lieutenants,  and  twenty  ensigns.  His  father  begged  the  Tsar 
to  do  this,  but  the  Prince  himself,  who  was  heavily  in  debt, 
suffering  from  cold,  and  without  enough  to  eat,  wrote  from 
Stockholm  in  1710 : 

'  It  has  never  come  to  my  tongue  nor  even  into  my  mind  to 
ask  for  anything  to  the  detriment  of  the  Empire  in  order  to  free 
me,  or  even  those  a  thousand  times  better  than  me.  For  that 
are  we  called — to  suffer  and  to  die  in  the  interest  of  our  Lord 
and  of  the  Empire.' 

The  Prince  was  finally  exchanged  in  1711,  together  with 
Prince  Trubetskoy,  for  Count  Piper,  but  died  in  Finland  on  his 
homeward  way.  Few  of  these  Russian  prisoners  returned  home 
until  after  the  battle  of  Poltava,  in  1709,  which  produced  suffi- 
cient effect  upon  the  Swedes  for  them  to  desire  an  exchange  of 
prisoners. 

The  treatment  of  Ililkof  influenced  that  of  Kuipercrona,  the 
Swedish  Resident  at  Moscow.  "When  war  was  declared,  a  guard 
of  twenty-four  soldiers  was  placed  at  his  door,  but  he  was  given 
permission  to  return  to  Sweden  either  by  way  of  Smolensk  or 
Archangel.  The  Smolensk  route  was  dangerous  on  account  of 
the  Polish  war,  and  that  to  Archangel  tedious  from  the  autumn 
rains.  He  therefore  preferred  to  remain  in  Moscow.  When 
the  news  came  of  the  bad  treatment  of  Hilkof,  Kuipercrona  was 
not  allowed  to  leave  his  house,  and  was  separated  from  his  wife 
and  four  children.  This  lasted  till  August,  1701,  when  his 
Vol.  I. —26 


402  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

Family  was  restored  to  him.  He  was  afterward  sent  to  Stock- 
holm, where  he  was  living  in  freedom  in  1709,  -while  llilkof 
was  Mill  confined  in  the  castle. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  war  the  Russians  took  few  prisoners. 
The  garrisons  of  the  fortresses  they  captured  were  generally  al- 
lowed to  march  off  under  the  terms  of  the  capitulations.  A 
time  came,  however,  when  large  bodies  of  men  surrendered, 
and  in  the  autumn  of  1709,  after  the  battle  of  Poltava,  there 
were  in  Russia  about  twenty  thousand  Swedes,  prisoners  of  war, 
including  nearly  two  thousand  officers,  besides  a  great  number  of 
chaplains  and  civil  officers.  There  were  then  so  few  Russians 
in  Sweden  that  the  exchange  of  prisoners  made  scarcely  a  sensi- 
ble difference  in  the  numbers.  The  Swedish  officers  received 
money  for  their  support  from  their  own  Government,  and  many 
of  them  obtained,  besides,  civil  employment  in  Russia,  and 
sometimes  assistance  from  kind-hearted  Russian  governors. 
The  soldiery  were  employed  on  the  estates  of  the  nobility,  in 
the  mines  in  the  Ural,  in  the  most  distant  provinces  of  Siberia, 
and  even  in  the  building  of  St.  Petersburg.  After  the  peace  of 
jSystad,  in  1721,  all  were  allowed  to  go  home,  but  some  did  not 
get  away  until  1724,  and  even  later.  As  far  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, only  about  five  thousand  soldiers  returned  to  Sweden. 
Some  of  them  had  not  seen  their  native  land  for  twenty  years. 

The  battle  of  Karva  created  a  great  impression  throughout 
Europe.  Glowing  accounts  of  the  victory  were  published  in 
many  languages,  and  the  praise  of  the  youthful  monarch  was 
the  theme  for  orations  and  poems,  while  satire  and  raillery  found 
subjects  in  the  '  flight '  of  Peter  and  the  conduct  of  the  Russian 
troops.  Swedish  diplomatists  published  a  refutation  of  the  rea- 
sons and  additional  explanations  offered  by  Patkul  in  justifica- 
tion of  the  Russian  declaration  of  war,  and  even  Leibnitz,  who 
had  shown  so  much  interest  in  Russia  and  the  Russians,  ex- 
pressed his  sympathy  with  the  Swedes  in  no  measured  terms, 
and  his  wish  that  he  could  see  their  '  young  King  reign  in  Mos- 
cow and  as  far  as  the  river  Amur.'  Medals  were  struck  in 
honour  of  Charles  with  the  inscriptions,  '  Sup&ra/nt  siiperatcc 
jidemj  and  'At  last  the  right  prevails.'  There  was  another 
commemorative  medal  of  a  different  kind  :  on  one  side  the  Tsar 
was  represented  warming  himself  over  the  fires  of  his  mortars 


1700.]  EFFECT   OF   THE   BATTLE.  403 

which  were  bombarding  Narva,  with  the  inscription,  'And 
Peter  warmed  himself  at  the  fire  ' ;  and  on  the  other,  the  Rus- 
sians were  shown  running  away  from  Narva,  with  Peter  at  their 
head  ;  his  hat  had  fallen  off,  his  sword  had  been  thrown  awa\ , 
and  he  was  wiping  away  his  tears  with  his  handkerchief,  and 
the  inscription  read  :  '  He  -went  out  and  wept  bitterly.' 

The  victory  at  Narva  was,  however,  in  the  end  more  disas- 
trous to  the  Swedes  than  to  the  Russians.  From  this  time  on, 
Charles  made  war  the  great  object  of  his  life.  He  became  per- 
suaded that  he  was  invincible.  Certain  traits  of  his  character, 
especially  his  cold-bloodedness,  his  indifference  to  the  loss  of 
life,  and  even  to  the  suffering  of  his  soldiers,  became  accentuated. 
He  even  seemed  to  take  delight  in  carnage.  This  is  very  plain 
from  letters  descriptive  of  the  fight  at  Narva,  written  by  Swe- 
dish officers  to  their  friends  at  home.  Axel  Sparre  rode  over 
the  field  of  battle  afterward  with  the  King,  who  pointed  out  to 
him  all  the  places  of  interest,  and  said  : 

'  But  there  is  no  pleasure  in  fighting  with  the  Russians,  for 
they  will  not  stand  like  other  men,  but  run  away  at  once.  If 
the  Narova  had  been  frozen,  we  should  hardly  have  killed  one 
of  them.  The  best  joke  was  when  the  Russians  got  upon  the 
bridge  and  it  broke  down  under  them.  It  was  just  like  Pha- 
raoh in  the  Red  Sea.  Everywhere  you  could  see  men's  and 
horses'  heads  and  legs  sticking  up  out  of  the  water,  and  our 
soldiers  shot  at  them  like  wild  ducks.' 

Carl  Cronstedt,  afterward  the  celebrated  Field-marshal,  Gen- 
eral Stenbock,  and  Carl  Magnus  Posse,  all  express  themselves 
in  nearly  the  same  terms  about  the  King's  obstinacy,  his  belief 
in  his  mission,  and  his  refusal  to  listen  to  advice.  Stenbock 
wrote  a  few  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Narva : 

'  The  King  thinks  now  about  nothing  except  war.  He  no 
longer  troubles  himself  about  the  advice  of  other  people,  and  he 
seems  to  believe  that  God  communicates  directly  to  him  what 
he  ought  to  do.  Piper  is  much  troubled  about  it,  because  the 
weightiest  affairs  are  resolved  upon  without  any  preparation,  and 
in  general  things  go  on  in  a  way  that  I  do  not  dare  commit  to 
paper.' 

Posse,  writing  in  December  of  the  same  year,  says : 

'  In  spite  of  the  cold  and  scarcity,  and  although  the  water  is 


404  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

standing  in  the  huts,  the  King  will  not  yet  let  us  go  into  winter 
quarters.  I  believe  that  if  lie  had  only  800  men  left  he  would 
invade  Russia  with  them,  without  taking  the  slightest  thought 
as  to  what  they  would  live  on  ;  and  if  one  of  our  men  is  shot, 
he  cares  no  more  about  it  than  he  would  for  a  louse,  and  never 
troubles  himself  about  such  a  loss.' 

The  counsellors  of  Charles  were  of  opinion  that  he  should 
immediately  accept  the  propositions  of  peace  offered  by  King 
A  ugustus,  invade  Russia,  take  up  winter  quarters  in  the  enemy's 
country,  and  use  all  means  to  foment  the  discontent  existing 
There,  even  to  proclaiming  Sophia.  After  such  a  defeat,  the 
Russians  were  unprepared  to  resist,  and  it  Mould  be  possible  to 
advance  even  to  Moscow.  In  any  case,  the  Swedes  could  get 
advantages  of  much  the  same  sort  as  they  had  had  in  the  Troub- 
lous Times,  and  could  for  ever  secure  their  rule  in  the  provinces 
already  possessed  by  them.  Charles  was  at  first  inclined  to  this 
opinion,  and  forbade  his  troopers  foraging  over  the  frontier, 
lest  the  country  should  become  barren,  and  nothing  be  left  for 
the  invading  army.  But  he  speedily  changed  his  mind.  His 
contempt  for  the  Russians  rapidly  grew,  and  he  despised  them 
as  a  people  not  worth  fighting  against.  He  had  a  personal  feel- 
ing of  hostility  toward  his  cousin  Augustus  for  his  treachery, 
and  feared,  or  pretended  to  fear,  that  if  peace  were  made  with 
him,  he  would  break  it  the  moment  the  Swedes  had  entered 
Russia.  More  than  all,  he  desired  to  put  down  the  third  enemy 
by  force  of  arms. 

No  doubt  many  of  those  who  surrounded  him  secretly  worked 
on  his  feelings  of  ambition,  in  order  that  these  plans  might  be 
carried  out,  for  they  feared  the  march  through  the  deserted  and 
cold  districts  of  Northern  Russia,  where,  with  the  King's  tem- 
perament, they  would  be  obliged  to  suffer  many  privations. 
Sending,  therefore,  a  small  force  to  the  region  of  Lake  Ladoga 
and  the  Neva,  Charles  took  up  his  winter  quarters  in  the  castle  of 
Lais,  a  few  miles  from  Dorpat.  The  troops  were  quartered  in 
the  villages  and  in  the  open  country  round  about.  Although  he 
might  have  taken  up  pleasanter  winter  quarters  in  Narva,  Riga, 
or  Pernau,  he  did  not  visit  these  towns  once  during  the  course 
of  the  winter,  and  it  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  June  that 
he  even  went  to  the  neighbouring  university  town  of  Dorpat. 


1701.]  SWEDISH    WINTER   QUARTERS.  405 

The  time  passed  merrily  enough  in  the  castle,  where  General 
Magnus  Stenbock  invented  all  sorts  of  amusements — suppers, 
masquerades,  spectacles,  and  even  a  great  sham  light,  with  snow 
castles  and  snowballs.  Charles  paid  little  attention  to  govern- 
mental affairs,  and  busied  himself  solely  with  plans  of  war.  He 
frequently  visited  the  detachments  of  troops,  but  simply  in  order 
to  see  them  drilled  and  go  through  their  exercises,  and  not  for 
the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  their  condition.  Meanwhile,  ow- 
ing to  the  cold  and  privations,  fever  was  making  tremendous 
ravage  in  the  army  ;  270  of  the  Dalecarlian  regiment  died,  and 
400  in  that  of  Yestmanland,  so  that  on  the  return  of  spring  less 
than  half  the  troops  were  fit  for  action.  The  King's  cousin,  the 
Count  Palatine  Adolph  Johann,  died  from  fever,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  royal  servants.  The  lack  of  provisions,  and  even 
of  clothing,  caused  the  soldiers,  in  spite  of  the  severe  orders,  to 
pillage  and  plunder  the  villages  and  houses  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  people  wondered  that  the  King  should  thus  harass  his  own 
subjects,  when  he  could  have  lived  on  the  enemy  in  the  neigh- 
bouring Russian  province  of  Pskof,  and  the  discontent  which 
was  caused  among  the  nobility  of  Livonia  and  Esthonia  by  the 
'  Reduction '  now  extended  to  all  classes  of  the  population. 

Peter  had  not  got  far  from  Xarva  when  he  received  the 
news  of  the  defeat.  It  surprised  him,  and  almost  stunned  him 
by  its  unexpectedness  and  its  magnitude,  but  it  did  not  dispirit 
him.  On  the  contrary,  it  roused  him  to  new  effort.  He  had 
the  heroic  qualities  of  perseverance  and  determination,  difficulty 
but  spurred  him  on,  and,  Anteeus-like,  he  rose  after  each  fall, 
with  new  energy  and  new  courage.  At  a  later  time,  after  the 
battle  of  Poltava,  he  was  able  to  judge  the  matter  calmly,  and 
said: 

'  Our  army  was  vanquished  by  the  Swedes — that  is  incon- 
testable ;  but  one  should  remember  what  sort  of  an  army  it  was. 
The  Lef  ort  regiment  was  the  only  old  one.  The  two  regiments 
of  guards  had  been  present  at  the  two  assaults  of  Azof,  but  they 
never  had  seen  any  field-fighting,  especially  with  regular  troops. 
The  other  regiments  consisted — even  to  some  of  the  colonels — 
of  raw  recruits,  both  officers  and  soldiers.  Besides  that,  there 
was  the  great  famine,  because,  on  account  of  the  late  season  of 


40G  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

the  year,  the  roads  were  so  muddy  that  the  transport  of  pro- 
visions had  to  be  stopped.  In  one  word,  it  was  like  child's  play. 
One  cannot,  then,  be  surprised  that,  against  such  an  old,  disci- 
plined, and  experienced  army,  these  untried  pupils  got  the 
worst  of  it.  This  victory  was  then,  indeed,  a  sad  and  severe 
blow  to  us.  It  seemed  to  rob  us  of  all  hope  for  the  future,  and 
to  come  from  the  wrath  of  God.  But  now,  when  we  think  of 
it  rightly,  we  ascribe  it  rather  to  the  goodness  of  God  than  to 
his  anger  ;  for  if  we  had  conquered  then,  when  we  knew  as  lit- 
tle of  war  as  of  government,  this  piece  of  luck  might  have  had 
unfortunate  consequences.  .  .  .  That  we  lived  through  this  dis- 
aster, or  rather  this  good  fortune,  forced  us  to  be  industrious, 
laborious,  and  experienced.' 

But  there  was  no  time  then  for  calm  consideration  of  the 
causes  and  consequences  of  the  Russian  defeat.  Every  moment 
was  necessary  for  action.  The  Swedes  might  at  any  time  in- 
vade the  country.  Peter  met,  near  Lake  Samra,  Prince  Nikita 
Repnin,  who  had  collected  his  division  in  the  Volga  country, 
and  was  marching  toward  Narva.  He  was  at  once  turned  back 
to  Novgorod,  and  instructed  to  bring  into  order  the  regiments 
which  had  left  Narva  '  in  confusion.'  "Work  was  immediately 
begun  on  the  fortifications  of  Novgorod,  Pskof,  and  the  Pe- 
tchersky  monastery  near  Pskof.  Men,  women,  and  children 
were  all  put  to  the  work,  and  the  services  in  the  churches  were 
given  up  in  order  that  the  priests  and  monks  could  help.  Houses 
were  pulled  down  and  churches  were  destroyed  where  they  stood 
in  the  way  of  the  new  fortifications.  Peter  set  the  example  by 
labouring  with  his  own  hands  at  the  first  intrenchment  at  Nov- 
gorod, and  then  entrusted  it  to  Lieutenant-Colonel  Shenshin. 
On  coming  back  afterward  and  not  finding  Shenshin  there,  he 
had  him  mercilessly  whipped  at  the  very  intrenchment,  and  then 
sent  him  to  Smolensk  as  a  common  soldier.  At  Moscow,  Leon- 
tius  Kokoshkin  was  hanged  because  he  had  taken  a  bribe  of  five 
rubles  when  engaged  in  receiving  carts  at  Tver,  and  another 
official,  Poskotchin,  was  hanged  at  Novgorod  for  a  similar  of- 
fence. 

Three  weeks  after  the  battle,  when  the  stragglers  had  all 
come  in,  it  was  found  that,  out  of  the  three  divisions  of  Golovin, 
Weyde,  and  Trubetskoy,  there  remained  23,000  men.    Adding 


1700.]  peter's  renewed  efforts.  407 

to  these  the  division  of  Itepnin,  Peter  still  had  an  army  of 
33,000  men.  The  irregular  cavalry  and  the  local  levies  had 
practically  disappeared,  and  were  unserviceable.  Orders  were 
at  once  given  to  Prince  Boris  Golitsyn  to  make  new  levies,  and 
especially  to  raise  nine  regiments  of  dragoons  of  1,000  men 
each.  Volunteers  were  also  again  asked  for  from  Moscow,  but 
the  prohibition  against  enlisting  the  old  Streltsi  was  still  kept  in 
force.  In  a  few  months,  the  army  was  much  larger  than  before, 
and,  according  to  the  testimony  of  foreigners,  was  in  excellent 
condition. 

Peter  stayed  two  weeks  in  Xovgorod,  to  do  what  was  most 
indispensable  for  the  protection  of  the  frontier.  He  then  went 
to  Moscow,  and  his  activity  was  visible  everywhere. 

It  was  necessary  to  make  new  artillery,  for  nearly  all  had 
been  captured  by  the  Swedes.  Vinius  was  charged  with  this 
task,  and,  in  default  of  other  metal,  was  ordered  to  melt  down 
the  bells  of  the  churches  and  monasteries.  The  old  man  set  to 
work  with  all  his  energy,  and,  in  spite  of  the  difficulty  in  finding 
workmen,  in  spite  of  the  delays  of  the  burgomasters  in  sending 
on  metal,  he  was  able,  by  the  end  of  1701,  to  furnish  300  can- 
non, and  prided  himself  on  having  done  this  so  well,  for  not 
only  were  the  pieces  faultless,  but  they  had  been  made  at  a  sav- 
ing of  10,000  rubles  over  previous  cost.  Besides  this,  he  had 
founded  a  school,  where  250  boys  were  learning  to  become  artil- 
lerymen and  skilled  workmen.  Old  as  he  was,  in  1702  he  even 
undertook  a  journey  to  Siberia  to  investigate  the  copper  found 
there.  Yinius  perhaps  exaggerated  the  difficulties  under  which 
he  laboured,  but  what  he  complained  of  most  was  that,  in  be- 
ing appointed  inspector  of  the  artillery,  he  had  been  deprived  of 
the  charge  of  the  post-office,  and  inquired  whether  it  was  on  ac- 
count of  any  anger  toward  him.     Peter  replied  : 

'  I  have  received  your  letter,  in  which  you  write  about  the 
readiness  of  the  artillery,  and  how  you  are  working  at  it.  The 
business  is  very  good  and  necessary,  for  time  is  like  death.  You 
ask  me  if  the  post  was  not  taken  away  from  you  so  unexpect- 
edly from  some  anger  of  mine.  But  does  not  your  conscience 
at  all  accuse  you  ?  For  I  long  ago  talked  to  you  about  it,  and 
you  are  quite  aware  that  many  people  talked  about  it,  and  even 
gave  something.     The  post  was  taken  from  you  for  no  other 


408  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

reason  than  that,  while  yon  had  it,  it  was  not  a  profit  to  the 
State,  but  only  to  yon ;  for,  often  as  I  have  talked  to  you  about 
correspondence  with  other  places,  my  words  were  vain.  For 
that  reason  it  has  been  given  to  another,  from  whom,  also,  if 
such  rumours  be  truly  spread,  it  will  be  taken  away  again.' 

For  a  long  time  Yinius  did  wonders,  but  finally  his  energy 
began  to  flag,  and  he  too  openly  filled  his  pockets  at  the  expense 
of  the  State.  In  1703,  Peter  came  to  Schliisselburg,  and  was 
very  indignant  to  find  that  there  had  been  great  delay  in  for- 
warding the  artillery  and  the  medical  stores.  Yinius  was  at  the 
same  time  Director  of  the  Medical  Department,  the  Artillery 
Department,  and  the  Siberian  Department.  Peter  immediately 
wrote  to  Prince  Ramodanof  sky : 

'  There  is  great  delay  to  our  work  here.  It  is  impossible  even 
to  begin.  I  myself  have  often  spoken  to  Yinius,  but  he  an- 
swered me  with  the  Muscovite  "  immediately  "  (seitchas).  Be 
good  enough  to  inquire  of  him  why  he  manages  so  carelessly 
such  an  important  matter,  which  is  a  thousand  times  dearer  than 
his  head.  Not  an  ounce  of  medicine  has  been  sent  from  the 
medical  stores.  We  shall  be  forced  to  cure  those  who  take  so 
little  care.' 

Yinius,  who  tried  to  excuse  himself,  and  threw  the  blame  on 
others,  was  subsequently  accused  by  Menshikof ,  who  was  charged 
with  another  investigation,  of  giving  him  large  bribes  to  let  the 
matter  drop.  The  wrath  of  Peter  could  not  be  appeased.  Yin- 
ius lost  his  friendship  for  ever,  was  deprived  of  the  direction  of 
the  Siberian  and  Artillery  departments,  and  was  fined  13,000 
rubles.1 

1  Solovief,  xiv. ;  Ustrialof,  IV.  iii.  ;  Fryxell,  I. ;  Lundblad,  I.  ;  Sarauw ; 
Golikof ;  Journal  of  the  Swedish  War  ;  Guerrier,  Leibnitz. 


XLIII. 

NEGOTIATIONS  FOR  MEDIATION  AND  ALLIANCE.— 1701. 

Even  before  the  battle  of  Narva,  Prince  Gregory  Dolgoruky 
had  been  sent  on  a  mission  to  King  Augustus.  Subsequently 
Captain  Theodore  Soltykof  was  sent  on  a  similar  errand,  and 
instructions  were  given  to  both  to  inform  the  King  of  the  Rus- 
sian defeat,  to  arrange  for  an  interview,  and  to  state,  although 
in  cautious  terms,  the  firm  resolution  of  the  Tsar  to  maintain 
the  alliance.  Dolgoruky  found  the  King  at  Warsaw,  and  re- 
ceived from  him  every  assurance  that  he  would  allow  no  change 
of  fortune  to  alter  his  plans.  At  the  same  time,  on  December 
30,  Augustus  wrote  to  the  Tsar  saying  that  about  March  1  he 
would  be  at  Diinaburg,  where  he  would  be  most  glad  to  see  him. 
Peter,  who  was  in  Moscow  when  he  received  the  King's  letter, 
set  out  in  the  middle  of  February  ;  but  when  he  arrived  at  Diina- 
burg, after  a  journey  of  two  weeks,  he  found  that  the  King  was 
eighty  miles  farther  at  Birze,  an  old  fortified  castle  which  had 
formerly  belonged  to  the  Radziwill  family,  and  was  then  the 
property  of  the  young  Princess  of  Xeuburg.  Augustus  was 
just  starting  for  Diinaburg,  and  his  sledge  was  standing  ready 
at  the  door  when  Peter  arrived,  so  unexpectedly  that  he  could 
scarcely  meet  him  on  the  threshold.  In  the  ten  days  which 
Peter  spent  here,  the  chief  business  was  negotiations  and  polit- 
ical discussion,  but  the  King  and  the  Tsar  made  also  an  excur- 
sion to  Diinamunde,  the  fortress  below  Riga,  at  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  which  had  been  renamed  Augustusburg,  in  honour  of 
the  King,  and  Peter  went  also  to  Bausk  and  Mitau.  Time 
enough  was  left  for  feasting  and  amusement.  One  day  the 
Tsar  and  the  King  fired  at  a  mark,  from  cannon  mounted  on 
different  bastions.  The  King  hit  the  mark  twice,  but  the  Tsar, 
although  an  experienced  artillerist,  never  hit  it  at  all.      The 


410  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

next  day  there  was  a  great  dinner,  which  lasted  so  late  that  the 
King  overslept  himself  the  following  morning,  and  the  Tsar 
only  went  to  mass.  He  attentively  followed  the  service,  and 
was  curious  about  all  the  ceremonies.  This  led  one  of  the  Po- 
lish senators  to  say  to  him  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  unite  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Churches.  Peter  replied  :  '  Sovereigns  have 
rights  only  over  the  bodies  of  their  people — Christ  is  the  sover- 
eign of  their  souls.  For  such  a  thing  a  general  consent  is  ne- 
cessary, and  that  is  in  the  power  of  God  alone.'  It  was  not  the 
union  of  the  Churches,  but  the  alliance  of  the  Republic  of  Po- 
land, as  well  as  of  the  King,  that  Peter  had  come  to  Birze  to 
secure.  On  this  subject  he  had  a  conversation  with  Sczuka,  the 
Yice-chancellor  of  Lithuania.  Peter  suggested  that  now  was  the 
very  best  time  for  the  Poles  to  join  the  Russians  and  Saxons, 
and  tear  away  Livonia  from  the  Swedes.  Sczuka  replied  that 
Poland  was  exhausted  by  her  preceding  wars,  and  needed  rest 
and  repose.  Besides  that,  Livonia  was  not  enough.  Poland 
needed  some  more  solid  advantages.  '  What  are  they  ? '  asked 
the  Tsar.  '  The  whole  matter  is  in  your  Majesty's  hands,'  said 
the  Chancellor,  and  finally  explained  that  Poland  could  only  be 
induced  to  fight  by  the  return  of  some  of  its  frontier  provinces 
occupied  by  Russia — as,  for  instance,  Kief  and  the  neighbour- 
ing districts.  The  Tsar  replied  that  this  was  impossible,  and 
left  the  room.  The  negotiations  were  continued  by  Golovin, 
but  with  no  better  result.  He  said  the  cession  of  Kief  would 
cause  disturbances  at  Moscow.  '  If  this  is  hard  for  Moscow,' 
said  Sczuka,  '  war  is  still  harder  for  the  Republic'  The  negotia- 
tions with  Poland  ended  here,  but  a  new  treaty  was  concluded 
with  Augustus,  by  which  the  allies  bound  themselves  to  continue 
the  war  with  all  their  forces,  and  not  to  end  it  without  mutual 
consent.  The  Tsar  promised  to  aid  the  King  with  from  15,000 
to  20,000  well-armed  infantry,  to  send  to  Vitebsk  100,000 
pounds  of  powder,  and,  besides  paying  certain  expenses,  to  give 
him  within  three  years  the  sum  of  100,000  rubles.  The  King 
was  to  attack  the  Swedes  in  Livonia  and  Esthonia,  so  as  to  allow 
the  Tsar  a  clear  field  for  operations  in  Ingria  and  Karelia.  Li- 
vonia and  Esthonia  were,  when  conquered,  to  belong  to  the 
King  and  to  Poland  without  any  claim  on  the  part  of.  Russia. 
But  as  the  issue  of  the  war  was  uncertain,  and  as  the  War  of  the 


1701.]  FINANCIAL   DIFFICULTIES.  411 

Spanish  Succession  might  endanger  the  German  possessions  of 
the  King,  it  was  agreed  to  listen  to  any  offers  of  mediation  made 
by  Austria,  France,  England,  Prussia,  or  Holland ;  and  in  a 
secret  article  Peter  promised  20,000  rubles  to  buy  up  Polish 
senators. 

Peter  was  followed  to  Moscow  by  an  aide-de-camp  of  the 
King  for  the  money.  This  was  hard  to  raise.  All  was  col- 
lected that  could  be  found  in  the  different  ministries  and  de- 
partments— even  the  foreign  money  left  over  from  the  journey 
of  the  Tsar,  and  some  Chinese  gold  which  had  been  sent  from 
Siberia.  Finally,  1,000  gold  pieces  were  obtained  from  the 
Tro'itsa  monastery,  420  were  given  by  Menshikof,  and  10,000 
rubles  by  the  rich  Moscow  merchant  Filatief,  and  the  sum  of 
150,000  rubles  was  made  up.  The  auxiliary  force  of  20,000 
men  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Prince  Repnin,  and 
started  out  for  Pskof  about  the  end  of  April  to  join  the  King  at 
Dlinaburg.  ISTew  orders  were  given  by  the  King,  and  Repnin 
was  obliged  to  go  on  to  Kokenhusen,  where  he  arrived  at  the 
end  of  June.  The  Russian  troops  were  much  praised  by  Field- 
marshal  Steinau :  '  They  are  all  good  men — except  perhaps  about 
fifty  who  need  drilling — armed  with  Dutch  muskets,  and  some 
regiments  have  swords  instead  of  bayonets.  The  soldiers  march 
evenly,  work  zealously  and  quickly,  and  do  all  that  the  field- 
marshal  orders  them.  Especial  praise  must  be  given  them  that 
they  have  not  among  them  any  women  nor  any  dogs,  and  the 
Muscovite  general  in  the  council  of  war  requested  that  the  wives 
of  the  Saxon  musketeers  be  forbidden  to  come  into  the  Russian 
camp  morning  and  evening  to  sell  wine,  because  the  Muscovites 
are  greatly  given  to  drinking  and  debauchery.  General  Repnin 
is  forty  years  old  (in  reality  he  was  only  thirty-three),  knows 
little  of  military  affairs,  but  nevertheless  is  of  an  inquiring  mind 
and  very  respectful.  The  colonels  are  all  Germans,  old  and  in- 
competent men,  and  the  officers  are  without  experience.' 

After  sending  off  his  money  and  his  men,  Peter  passed  a  few 
days  at  Preobrazhensky,  and  then  went  to  Voronezh,  to  build 
new  ships  and  prepare  and  inspect  that  fleet  which  could  be  of 
no  possible  service  unless  there  might  be  war  with  Turkey,  and 
a  port  could  be  gained  on  the  Black  Sea.  He  was  accompanied 
by  most  of  the  court,  and  by  many  ladies  of  the  German  suburb. 


412  PETEB  THE   GKEAT. 

In  spite  of  the  dangers  whicli  threatened  his  empire,  Peter 
remained  at  Voronezh  at  his  favourite  occupation  for  three 
months,  paying  a  visit  on  the  way  back  to  Moscow  to  the  Ivan 
Lake,  where  he  proposed  to  dig  a  canal  between  the  Oka  and 
the  Don.  Three  days  after  his  return  to  Moscow  there  was  a 
frightful  conflagration  in  the  Kremlin.     On  the  afternoon  of 

DO 

June  29,  a  fire  started  in  the  hostelry  of  the  Saviour,  rapidly 
spread  across  the  river,  and  burned  nearly  all  the  buildings  in 
the  Kremlin — the  ministries,  departments,  and  other  public 
offices,  with  all  their  documents,  the  monasteries,  the  houses, 
the  great  stores  of  provisions  and  ammunition.  The  palace  was 
entirely  destroyed ;  the  princesses  living  in  it  escaped  with  great 
difficulty  ;  the  bells  of  the  cathedrals  fell  down,  and  the  largest 
bell  of  the  Ivan  tower,  weighing  2S8,000  pounds,  was  broken  to 
pieces.  In  one  church  all  the  sacred  pictures,  ornamented  with 
pearls  and  precious  stones  to  the  value  of  a  million  and  a  half 
of  rubles,  were  a  prey  to  the  flames.  Two  thousand  houses  were 
burned,  and  it  was  only  owing  to  the  great  personal  exertions  of 
the  Tsar  that  the  stone  bridge  was  saved. 

During  all  this  time  the  Tsar  was  engaged  in  negotiations  of 
two  kinds — to  find  alliances  whicli  would  aid  him  in  carrying  on 
the  war,  and  to  find  mediators  who  could  persuade  the  King  of 
Sweden  to  make  a  peace  advantageous  to  Russia.  In  January, 
1701,  a  secret  treaty  was  concluded  with  the  King  of  Denmark, 
by  which  he  was  to  send  to  Windau  at  the  opening  of  naviga- 
tion three  regiments  of  infantry  and  three  of  cavalry,  in  all 
4,500  men,  to  be  paid  by  the  Russian  Government.  This  treaty 
was  never  carried  out,  for  the  victories  of  Charles  XII.  had 
made  his  name  so  formidable  that  the  King  of  Denmark  did 
not  dare  move  a  finger. 

Matveief,  who  had  been  sent  on  a  mission  to  Holland,  en- 
deavoured to  persuade  the  Netherlands  to  mediate  between  Swe- 
den and  Russia,  and  he  was  ordered  to  give  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  battle  of  Narva  :  '  The  Swedes  burst  into  the  in- 
trenchments,  and  found  themselves  between  the  division  of 
AVeyde  and  the  regiments  of  the  guards.  Seeing  that  the 
Swedes  were  surrounded,  the  Russians  three  times  sent  a  trum- 
peter with  a  proposal  of  a  truce.  The  armistice  was  concluded, 
but  on  the  next  day,  when  the  Russians  began  to  cross  the  ]Sa- 


1701.]  NEGOTIATIONS.  413 

rova,  the  Swedes  attacked  them  in  spite  of  the  royal  promise, 
robbed  them  of  everything,  and  seized  the  artillery  and  ammu- 
nition.' Matveief  asked  the  States-General  not  to  allow  the 
Swedes  to  hire  troops  or  buy  military  stores  in  Holland  before 
the  mediation  was  decided.  The  truth  was  too  well  known  in 
Holland  for  much  attention  to  be  given  to  the  requests  of  the 
Russian  minister,  and  the  libels  and  pasquinades  against  Peter 
and  his  people  were  in  lively  circulation  at  The  Hague.  The 
Dutch  were  in  a  difficult  position.  They  tried  to  prevent  the 
Avar,  which  was  injurious  to  their  commercial  interests  in  the 
Baltic.  They  were  bound  by  a  treaty  with  Sweden  to  furnish 
that  country  with  money  and  aid ;  but  they  did  not  wish  to 
break  with  Russia  and  lose  their  Archangel  trade,  and  they 
feared  the  growing  intimacy  between  Sweden  and  France.  They 
would  not  openly  help  the  Russians,  and  they  tried  to  avoid  as- 
sisting the  Swedes.  They  explained  that  the  money  which  the 
States-General  and  England  had  sent  to  King  Charles  was  not 
intended  to  aid  him  in  carrying  on  the  war.  At  the  same  time, 
Witsen  managed  it  so  that  muskets  were  bought  in  Amsterdam 
for  the  Russians.  The  Dutch  were  desirous  of  peace,  but  while 
"William  III.  made  vague  promises  of  mediation  in  connection 
with  the  King  of  Prussia,  the  States-General  did  not  like  to  of- 
fend Charles  XII. ,  who,  in  order  to  avoid  discussion,  had  sent 
their  minister  away  from  Livonia,  and  told  him  to  go  to  Stock- 
holm to  confer  with  the  Council  of  State,  which,  as  everyone 
knew,  had  no  power. 

Prince  Peter  Golitsyn,  the  brother  of  Boris,  who  had  already 
been  in  Italy  for  the  purpose  of  studying  naval  affairs,  was  sent 
to  Vienna  to  ask  the  mediation  of  the  German  Emperor.  He 
was  ordered  to  go  incognito  and  as  speedily  as  possible.  Yet  he 
took  three  months  for  the  journey,  '  suffering,'  as  he  wrote,  'all 
sorts  of  discomforts  and  privations.'  His  negotiations  wTere  car- 
ried on  through  the  Jesuit  Father  Wolf,  the  confessor  of  the 
Emperor,  by  means  of  an  interpreter,  Linksweiler  or  Rothwell, 
who  had  already  served  the  boyar  Boris  Sheremetief  on  his 
journey  from  Vienna  to  Malta.  The  interpreter  was  much  to 
the  taste  of  Golitsyn,  and  not  at  all  to  that  of  Wolf,  who  accused 
him  of  letting  out  what  had  been  said.  Golitsyn  was  received 
by  the  Emperor  in  private  audience,  but  was  able  to  effect  noth- 


414  PETEB  TnE   GREAT. 

ing.  After  the  battle  of  Narva,  Peter  had  sunk  very  low  in 
German  opinion,  and  all  sorts  of  rumours  were  current  of  new 
Russian  defeats.  Golitsyn  wrote  that  Count  Kaunitz  laughed 
at  him,  and  that  the  French  and  Swedish  ministers  made  him 
the  subject  of  jests.  'People  here  are  well  known  to  you,'  he 
wrote  to  Golovi'n  ;  'not  only  the  men,  but  even  the  wives  of  the 
ministers,  take  money  shamelessly.  Everybody  here  gives  them 
valuable  presents,  while  I  can  only  give  them  flattering  words. 
It  is  necessary  to  try  in  every  way  possible  to  get  a  victory  over 
the  enemy.  God  forbid  that  the  present  summer  should  pass 
away  with  nothing !  Even  though  we  conclude  an  eternal  peace, 
yet  how  shall  we  wipe  out  an  eternal  shame  %  It  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  our  sovereign  to  get  even  a  very  small  victory,  by 
which  his  name  may  become  famous  in  Europe  as  it  was  before. 
Then  we  can  conclude  a  peace  ;  while  now  people  only  laugh  at 
our  troops  and  at  our  conduct  of  the  war.'  In  addition  to  this, 
there  was  the  difficulty  about  the  late  minister  Guarient,  who 
was  accused  of  having  written,  or  at  least  caused  to  be  published, 
the  journal  of  Korb,  full  of  details  about  the  punishment  of  the 
Streltsi.1  Golitsyn  says  that  he  always  spoke  disrespectfully  of 
the  Russians  and  called  them  barbarians,  and  Guarient  found 
himself  obliged,  not  only  to  deny  having  had  any  part  in  the 
book,  but  to  write  apologetic  letters  to  Golovin  and  the  Tsar 
himself.  In  the  way  of  mediation  there  was  the  difficulty  that 
the  Russians  demanded  as  a  condition  of  peace  that  they  should 
be  given  Ingria  and  the  river  Neva,  which  they  had  not  yet  con- 
quered. There  was  also  a  further  difficulty — that  the  King  of 
Poland  had  made  a  hostile  expedition  against  Riga,  without  for- 
mally declaring  war.  As  Golitsyn  writes :  '  The  Swedish  minis- 
ter spent  the  morning  with  the  Polish  minister,  and  both  talked 
about  curves  ;  after  dinner  they  discovered  that  there  was  a  war 
between  their  sovereigns.' 

In  addition  to  these  negotiations,  talk  of  another  kind  was 
going  on.  The  Empress,  who  still  retained  the  favourable  im- 
pression of  Peter  that  she  had  received  on  his  visit  at  Vienna, 
was  anxious  to  make  an  alliance  between  the  families,  and  pro- 
posed that  her  son,  the  Archduke  Charles,  who  was  then  six- 

1  See  note  on  p.  329. 


1701. J  PROPOSED   MARRIAGES.  415 

teen  years  old,  should  many  a  Russian  princess.  The  only 
ones  who  were  available — unless  we  include  Peter's  sister 
Natalia,  who  was  then  twenty-eight  years  old — were  the  three 
daughters  of  the  Tsar  Ivan,  Catherine,  Anne,  and  Prascovia, 
of  the  respective  ages  of  eleven,  nine,  and  seven  years.  Golit- 
syn  had  no  instructions  on  this  point,  and  was  obliged  to  write 
to  Moscow.  It  was  three  months  before  the  answer  came. 
The  Tsar  was  pleased  at  the  proposal,  and  had  the  Dutch 
painter,  Cornelius  Le  Bruyn — then  on  his  travels  in  Russia — 
paint  portraits  of  the  three  princesses  in  German  costume,  with 
their  hair  arranged  d  Vantique,  to  be  sent  to  the  Empress. 
Not  only  was  Peter  content  with  the  portraits,  but  the  Tsar- 
itsa  Prascovia  liked  them  so  much  that  she  ordered  Le  Bruyn 
to  paint  duplicates  for  herself.  The  most  beautiful  was  Anne, 
a  blonde,  who  subsequently  became  Empress  of  Russia.  The 
other  two  were  brunettes.  The  negotiations  on  this  point  lin- 
gered on,  to  the  displeasure  of  the  Russians,  and  finally  came 
to  nothing.  To  all  inquiries  on  the  part  of  the  Russian  minis- 
ter the  Austrians  said  that  the  first  proposal  had  come  from 
the  Russians,  and  that  there  were  difficulties  in  the  way.  The 
Archduke  Charles  subsequently,  in  1708,  married  Elizabeth, 
Princess  of  Brunswick-Wolfenbiittel,  at  that  time  one  of  the 
beauties  of  Europe,  and  their  daughter  was  the  celebrated  Em- 
press Maria  Theresa.  The  Empress  had  also  another  wish, 
which  was  that  the  Tsarevitch  Alexis  should  be  sent  to  Vienna 
to  receive  his  education,  and  both  she  and  the  Emperor  prom- 
ised to  treat  him  as  one  of  their  own  children,  and  to  do  every- 
thing possible  for  him.  Peter  consented  to  this,  but  the  events 
of  the  war  interfered  with  the  project,  and  Alexis  first  went  to 
Vienna  fifteen  years  later  as  a  fugitive. 

Meanwhile  the  war  had  been  proceeding  in  a  quiet  way  as 
regarded  Russia,  although  in  a  decisive  and  disagreeable  way 
as  regarded  King  Augustus.  Early  in  the  spring  of  1701, 
orders  had  been  given  to  fortify  Archangel,  which  was  at  that 
time  the  only  port  of  Russia,  and  when  Izmailof,  the  Russian 
minister  at  Copenhagen,  wrote  that  the  Swedes  were  hiring 
pilots  for  Archangel,  additional  precautions  were  ordered. 
Prince  Prozorofsky,  the  governor,  had  only  finished  his  prep- 
arations for  defence,  when  a  Swedish  squadron  of  seven  vessels, 


416  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

Bailing  under  English  and  Dutch  colours,  appeared  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Dvina,  and  anchored  off  Mudiiig  island.  The  command- 
ant of  the  island,  thinking  them  trading  vessels,  sent  as  usual 
a  detachment  of  sixteen  soldiers,  with  interpreters  and  secre- 
tary, to  inspect  them.  The  men  were  all  taken  prisoners. 
Three  of  the  vessels,  guided  by  a  Russian  pilot,  one  of  the 
prisoners,  passed  up  the  river,  and  again  a  Russian  coast-guard 
was  nearly  captured,  but  took  the  alarm  in  time,  and  escaped 
to  land  with  a  loss  of  five  men  killed.  The  vessels  went  on, 
but  one  frigate  and  a  yacht  got  aground,  as  the  Swedes  say,  by 
the  treachery,  or  patriotism,  of  the  pilot.  By  this  time  they 
were  known,  and  they  were  fired  on  by  the  batteries  opposite, 
when  their  crews  immediately  abandoned  them.  The  Rus- 
sian soldiers  took  possession  of  them,  and  turned  their  cannon 
against  the  retiring  Swedes.  Unfortunately  a  quantity  of 
powder  which  was  on  the  deck  took  fire  and  blew  off  the  poop 
of  the  frigate.  After  destroying  various  huts  on  Mudiiig  island 
and  some  buildings  connected  with  the  salt-works,  and  commit- 
ting other  ravages  along  the  shore,  the  Swedish  squadron  re- 
tired. 

From  Turkey  there  came  good  news.  All  rumours  of  war 
were  at  an  end,  and  the  Sultan  had  confirmed  the  treaty.  But 
from  the  banks  of  the  Diina  came  different  intelligence.  King 
Charles,  having  at  last  received  reinforcements  from  Sweden, 
had  set  out  from  his  winter  quarters  at  Lais,  had  crossed  the 
Diina  in  the  face  of  the  Saxon  troops  commanded  by  Marshal 
Steinau  and  Paikull,  and  had  badly  beaten  them.  "Without 
underrating  the  merits  of  the  Swedish  generals  and  the  Swed- 
ish troops,  the  defeat  was  in  some  degree  due  to  the  fault  of 
Paikull,  who,  instead  of  opposing  the  crossing,  allowed  a  part 
of  the  Swedish  army  to  proceed,  hoping  to  beat  them  afterward 
and  possibly  to  capture  the  King.  Enough  men  crossed  the 
river,  under  the  cover  of  the  smoke  of  damp  hay  and  manure 
carried  in  advance,  to  defeat  the  Saxons  before  they  had  made 
the  necessary  dispositions  for  attacking.  Peter  learnt  of  this 
defeat  at  Pskof,  and  was  so  much  troubled  that  he  decided  to 
propose  peace  to  Charles  through  the  intervention  of  Prussia. 
But  this  attempt  was  as  vain  as  those  at  The  Hague  and  at 
A'ienna.     The  Russian  troops  under  Repnin  returned  to  Pskof. 


1701.]  FIGHT   ON   THE  DUNA.  417 

Four  regiments,  who  had  been  in  part  of  the  reserves  at  the 
battle,  were  so  frightened  that,  without  waiting  for  the  com- 
mand, they  ran  twenty  miles  to  join  their  comrades  at  Borko- 
vitsa.' 

1  Solovief ,  xiv. ;  Golikof ;  Journal  of  Swedish  War ;  Fryxell,  I. ;  Sjogren, 
Paykull. 

Vol.  I.— 27 


XLIV. 

RUSSIAN  SUCCESSES  ON  THE  NEVA  AND  THE  BALTIC  COAST.— 

1701—1704. 

Two  weeks  after  the  battle  of  Xarva,  Peter  had  written  to 
Sheremetief  to  do  something  to  encourage  the  soldiers  and 
embarrass  the  enemy.  Accordingly,  at  the  end  of  December 
1700,  Sheremetief  sent  a  party  against  the  fortified  town  of 
M arienburg,  twenty  miles  from  the  frontier.  The  attack  was 
unsuccessful.  In  revenge  for  this,  Colonel  Schlippenbach  sud- 
denly invaded  the  Russian  territory,  burned  many  villages,  and 
laid  siege  to  the  Petchorsky  monastery ;  but,  after  an  officer 
had  been  killed  in  trying  to  screw  a  petard  to  the  gates,  he  re- 
treated to  Livonia.  During  the  winter,  other  similar  forays 
laid  waste  the  territory  on  each  side  of  the  frontier.  After 
King  Charles  had  marched  toward  the  Diina,  in  July,  1701, 
Sheremetief  again  attacked  the  detachment  of  Schlippenbach, 
who  remained  in  Livonia,  at  Rauke.  He  was  beaten  back,  but 
Schlippenbach  sent  an  urgent  message  to  the  King,  telling  him 
of  his  position,  and  saying  that  Sheremetief  had  as  many  troops 
as  the  whole  Swedish  army.  The  King  replied  merely,  'It  can- 
not be,'  and  ordered  600  men  to  be  sent  to  the  village  of  Pap- 
pin,  near  the  Russian  border.  This  was  in  spite  of  the  remon- 
strances of  Schlippenbach,  who  said  the  force  was  too  small, 
and  proposed  a  more  suitable  point  of  attack.  The  King  could 
not  be  moved,  and  Schlippenbach  was  obliged  to  report :  '  It 
happened  as  I  foresaw.  Out  of  the  whole  detachment  only  one 
captain  returned  ;  all  the  rest  were  killed  or  taken  prisoners  by 
the  Russians,  together  with  two  cannon.'  This  was  on  Sep- 
tember 15,  1701,  the  Russians  being  commanded  by  the  son  of 
Sheremetief.  This  skirmish,  for  it  was  scarcely  more,  was  the 
beginning  of  the  Russian  successes.     In  January,  1702,  Shere- 


1702.]  BATTLE   OF  ERESTFER.  410 

metief,  with  8,000  infantry  and  dragoons,  together  with  Cos- 
sacks, Kalmuks,  and  Tartars,  and  fifteen  field-pieces,  moved 
against  Schlippenbach,  who,  with  7,000  men,  was  encamped  on 
the  estate  of  Erestfer,  and  on  January  9,  after  a  battle  which 
lasted  four  hours,  until  it  became  dark,  inflicted  a  severe  de- 
feat on  the  Swedes,  who  lost,  according  to  their  own  account, 
1,000,  and  according  to  the  Russian  estimate,  3,000  killed  and 
wounded,  and  350  prisoners,  together  with  six  guns  and  eight 
standards.  The  Russian  loss  amounted  to  more  than  1,000 
men.  Sheremetief  was  glad  of  his  victory,  but  he  was  still 
more  pleased  that  the  Swedes  did  not  come  out  of  the  forests 
and  attack  him  when  he  was  in  the  midst  of  the  deep  snows 
and  his  men  were  too  worn  out  to  march  farther.  Peter  was 
delighted,  and  after  receiving  Sheremetiefs  report,  exclaimed : 
'  Thank  God !  we  can  at  last  beat  the  Swedes.'  lie  immedi- 
ately appointed  Sheremetief  field-marshal,  and  sent  by  Menshi- 
kof  to  him  the  blue  ribbon  of  St.  Andrew  and  his  own  portrait 
set  in  diamonds.  All  the  officers  were  promoted,  and  the  com- 
mon soldiers  were  given  a  ruble  apiece  of  the  newly  coined 
money.  At  Moscow  there  was  great  rejoicing.  Te  Deums 
were  chanted  in  the  churches,  with  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the 
firing  of  cannon ;  a  great  banquet  was  given  by  the  Tsar  in  a 
building  erected  for  the  purpose  on  the  lied  Place — the  palace, 
we  remember,  had  been  burned  down  that  winter — and  the 
night  closed  with  fireworks  and  illuminations.  A  fortnight 
later  the  Tsar  made  a  triumphant  entry,  having  in  his  train  the 
Swedish  prisoners,  who  were  well  treated.  This  was  the  first 
of  a  series  of  triumphs  for  small  victories,  which  were  indeed 
ridiculed  by  the  foreign  ministers,  but  which,  nevertheless, 
served  to  keep  up  the  spirits  and  arouse  the  patriotism  of  the 
people. 

After  the  victory  of  Erestfer,  Sheremetief  made  two  pres- 
sing requests  to  be  allowred  to  return  to  Moscow.  His  wife,  he 
said,  was  living  in  the  house  of  a  neighbour,  and  he  must  find 
her  a  place  to  lay  her  head.  The  Tsar  at  first  refused,  but  fi- 
nally wrote  from  Archangel,  leaving  it  to  his  judgment  whether 
he  could  be  spared  from  the  army,  and  telling  him  if  he  should 
go,  to  be  back  again  by  Holy  Week.  On  his  return,  Shereme- 
tief attacked  Schlippenbach  at  Hummelshof  on  July  29,  1702, 


420  peter  tup:  great. 

and  inflicted  on  him  a  severe  defeat,  amounting  to  a  complete 
rout.  The  Swedish  infantry  was  almost  annihilated,  and  Schlip- 
penbach  with  the  cavalry  retreated  to  Pernau.  The  Swedes  had 
only  about  5,000  men  engaged,  and  lost  at  least  2,500  in  killed 
and  wounded,  besides  300  prisoners,  and  all  their  artillery,  stand- 
ards, and  drums.  The  Russian  loss  was  400  killed,  and  about 
the  same  number  wounded. 

After  the  battle  of  Ilummelshof,  Livonia  remained  entirely 
without  defence.  In  Riga,  Pernau,  and  Dorpat  there  were  com- 
paratively large  garrisons,  which  did  not  dare  leave  the  fortresses, 
and  in  the  smaller  towns  only  a  few  hundred  men  each.  Shere- 
metief  then  thoroughly  devastated  the  whole  of  the  country, 
destroying  towns,  villages,  and  farms,  taking  captive  the  popu- 
lation, and  sending  his  prisoners  to  the  south  of  Russia.  The 
Cossacks,  Tartars,  and  Ivalmuks  in  the  Russian  army  had  full 
swing,  and  Livonia  Avas  for  a  lone;  time  unable  to  recover  from 
the  effects  of  this  campaign.  Many  rich  and  strong  castles  built 
by  the  Teutonic  knights  were  then  destroyed.  Sheremetief  in 
his  report  wrote : 

'  I  send  Cossacks  and  Kalmuks  to  different  estates  for  the 
confusion  of  the  enemy.  But  what  am  I  to  do  with  the  people 
I  have  captured  ?  The  prisons  are  full  of  them,  besides  all  those 
that  the  officers  have.  There  is  danger  because  these  people 
are  so  sullen  and  angry.  You  know  what  they  have  already  done, 
careless  of  themselves.  In  order  that  such  plots  may  not  begin 
again,  and  that  the  men  may  not  set  fire  to  the  powder  in  the 
cellars,  or  die  from  their  close  quarters,  much  must  be  done. 
Considerable  money  besides  is  necessary  for  their  support,  and 
one  regiment  would  be  too  little  to  conduct  them  to  Moscow.  I 
have  selected  a  hundred  families  of  the  best  of  the  natives  who 
are  good  carpenters,  or  are  skilled  in  some  other  branch  of  in- 
dustry— about  400  souls  in  all — to  send  to  Azof.' 

That  these  prisoners  included  all  classes  of  society  may  be 
seen  from  the  fact  that  Patkul  was  obliged  to  petition  the  Tsar 
for  the  release  of  two  daughters  of  his  acquaintance,  the  Land- 
rath  Yietinghof,  who  had  been  taken  prisoners  and  formed  part 
of  the  booty  of  the  Cossacks.  So  much  cattle  was  taken  that  it 
could  be  bought  at  nominal  prices,  and,  according  to  the  Austrian 
Agent  Pleyer,  a  Swedish  boy  or  girl  of  fifteen  years  old  coidd 


1702.]  DEFENCE   OF   ARCHANGEL.  421 

be  bought  at  Pskof  for  two  grwnas,  or  twelve  groschen.  The 
towns  of  Menza,  Smilten,  Ronenburg,  and  Wolmar  were  reduced 
to  ruins,  as  well  as  Marienburg,  which  was  a  strongly  fortified 
place,  and  offered  great  resistance.  It  was  to  this  Sheremetief 
referred  in  the  above  report,  for,  after  the  town  had  been  cap- 
tured, an  ensign  of  artillery,  Wulff,  continued  the  defence,  and 
finally  set  fire  to  the  powder-magazines,  and  blew  himself  up. 
Many  Swedes  were  killed  as  well  as  many  Russians. 

The  siege  of  Marienburg  is  of  interest  to  us  because  among 
the  captives  was  the  Provost  Gluck,  with  his  family,  and  in  his 
family  was  the  girl  who  subsequently  became  the  Empress 
Catherine  I. 

In  the  spring  of  1T02,  Matveief  reported  that  the  Swedes 
were  intending  again  to  attack  Archangel.  Xot  satisfied  with 
the  measures  of  protection  and  defence  which  had  been  taken 
in  that  region,  considering  that  only  1,900  men  were  available 
there  for  military  operations,  Peter  resolved  to  go  himself  to 
the  North,  and  set  out  at  the  end  of  April,  taking  with  him  his 
son  Alexis  (then  a  boy  of  twelve),  a  numerous  suite  and  five 
battalions  of  the  guard,  amounting  to  4,000  men.  lie  was  thirty 
days  on  the  road  from  Moscow.  In  our  times  of  rapid  com- 
munication it  is  hard  to  realise  how  any  regular  plan  of  defence 
or  war  could  be  carried  out  in  a  country  where  such  enormous 
distances  were  required  to  be  travelled,  and  where  so  much  time 
had  to  be  spent  on  the  journey.  In  a  stay  of  three  months, 
which  Peter  made  at  Archangel,  there  was  little  which  he  could 
do  in  the  wray  of  military  preparations.  He  occupied  himself 
with  shipbuilding,  and  on  Trinity  Sunday  launched  two  frig- 
ates, the  '  Holy  Spirit '  and  the  '  Courier,'  constructed  by  Elea- 
zar  Ysbrandt,  and  laid  the  keel  of  a  new  twenty-six-gun  ship, 
the  '  St.  Elijah,'  writing  at  the  same  time  to  Apraxin  that  he 
could  do  nothing  more,  as  there  was  no  more  ship-timber.  In 
August  the  early  fleet  of  merchant-ships  arrived,  much  more 
numerous  than  usual,  for  all  the  trade  which  had  before  come 
through  the  Swedish  ports  on  the  Baltic  naturally  turned  to 
Archangel.  There  were  thirty-five  English  and  fifty-two  Dutch 
ships,  with  a  convoy  of  three  ships  of  war.  These  vessels 
brought  the  news  that  the  Swedes  had  given  up  any  attack  on 
Archangel  that  summer.     Peter  therefore  felt  at  liberty  to  de- 


422  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

part,  and  went  by  sea  to  Niuktcha,  on  the  Bay  of  Onega,  stop- 
ping by  the  way  fur  a  few  days  at  the  Solovdtsky  monastery. 
.From  Niuktcha  to  I'ovienetz,  at  the  northern  end  of  Lake 
One^a,  a  road  eighty  miles  long  had  been  made  through  the 
swamps  and  thick  forests  by  the  energy  and  labour  of  Stche- 
p6tef,  a  sergeant  of  the  Preobrazhensky  regiment.  Over  two 
of  the  rivers  it  was  necessary  to  build  long  bridges,  strong 
enough  for  the  passage  of  the  five  battalions  of  guards  which 
accompanied  the  Tsar.  From  Povienetz  Peter  sailed  through 
Lake  (  hiega  and  down  the  river  Svir,  and  finally  arrived  about 
the  end  of  September  at  the  town  of  Old  Ladoga,  on  the  river 
Volkhof  near  Lake  Ladoga.  Here  he  was  met  by  Field-marshal 
Sheremetief  with  his  army,  who  had  sailed  down  the  Yolkhof 
from  Novgorod,  and  also  by  the  artillery  which  Vinius  had  col- 
lected for  him.  With  a  force  then  of  about  12,000  men,  Peter 
advanced  on  October  6  to  lay  siege  to  the  fortress  of  Noteborg. 
Noteborg  had  been  originally  built  by  the  people  of  Novgorod 
four  centuries  before,  under  the  name  of  Orekhoyo  or  Oreshek, 
on  a  small  island  of  the  river  Neva,  just  where  it  leaves  Lake 
Ladoga.  The  island  was  in  shape  like  a  hazel-nut,  whence  both 
the  Russian  and  Swedish  names.  It  served  for  a  long  time  as 
a  barrier  against  the  incursions  of  the  Swedes  and  Danes,  and 
protected  the  commerce  of  Novgorod  as  well  as  of  Ladoga.  In 
1323,  peace  MTas  concluded  there  between  the  Swedes  and  Rus- 
sians. In  the  subsequent  wars  it  was  sometimes  in  the  hands 
of  the  Swedes,  sometimes  in  those  of  the  Russians,  and  finally, 
in  1611,  was  captured  again  by  the  Swedes  under  Dela  Gardie, 
and  had  since  that  time  belonged  to  Sweden.  Noteborg  was 
defended  by  a  small  garrison  of  150  men,  with  142  cannon  of 
small  calibre,  under  the  command  of  the  old  Colonel  "Wilhelm 
von  Schlippenbach,  the  brother  of  the  Swedish  general  com- 
manding in  Livonia.  The  Russians  took  up  a  position  on  both 
sides  of  the  river,  and  by  a  fleet  of  small  boats,  which  they 
brought  down  from  the  river  Svir  through  Lake  Ladoga,  suc- 
ceeded in  completely  blockading  the  fort.  On  October  11  they 
opened  fire,  and  on  the  22d,  after  an  unsuccessful  storm  by  the 
Russians,  in  which  Prince  Michael  Golitsyn  displayed  remark- 
able bravery  and  coolness,  the  commandant  capitulated  on  hon- 
ourable conditions.    His  whole  garrison,  with  all  their  property, 


1702.] 


NOTEBORG  TAKEN. 


423 


were  allowed  to  depart  to  the  next  Swedish  fort.  On  the  third 
day  of  the  cannonade,  the  wife  of  the  commandant  had  sent  a 
letter  to  the  Russian  field-marshal,  in  the  name  of  the  wives  of 
the  officers,  asking  that  they  be  permitted  to  depart.  Peter, 
wishing  to  lose  no  time,  had  himself  replied  to  the  letter  that 
he  could  not  consent  to  put  Swedish  ladies  to  the  discomfort  of 
a  separation  from  their  husbands,  and  if  they  desired  to  leave 


Bombardment  of  Noteborg. 

the  fort,  they  could  do  so  provided  they  took  their  husbands 
with  them. 

According  to  Pleyer,  only  forty-one  Swedes  were  living  to 
take  advantage  of  the  capitulation.  The  Russians,  however, 
lost  more  than  the  whole  Swedish  garrison,  in  all  538  men,  be- 
sides 925  wounded.  Peter  immediately  proceeded  to  repair  the 
damages  done  to  the  fort,  renamed  it  Schliisselburg,  and  fastened 


424  PETER  THE   GREAT. 

up  in  the  western  bastion  the  key  given  him  by  the  command- 
ant, as  a  symbol  that  this  fort  was  the  key  to  the  whole  of  the 
Neva.  Ever  afterward,  when  at  St.  Petersburg,  he  went  to 
Schlusselburg  on  October  22,  and  feasted  the  capitulation.  Men- 
shikof, who  had  shown  great  military  ability,  was  appointed 
governor  of  the  newly  named  fort,  and  from  this  time  date  his 
intimate  friendship  with  Peter  and  his  prominence  in  public  life. 

When  the  despatch  announcing  the  fall  of  Xoteborg  was  read 
to  King  Charles,  who  was  then  in  Poland,  Piper  feared  its  effect, 
but  the  King  said  with  apparent  calm :  '  Console  yourself,  dear 
Piper.  The  enemy  have  not  been  able  to  drag  the  place  away 
with  them/  But  it  evidently  went  to  his  heart,  and  on  another 
occasion  he  said  that  the  Russians  should  pay  dearly  for  Xoteborg. 

Peter  announced  the  event  to  his  friends,  and  in  a  letter  to 
Vinius  said :  '  In  very  truth  this  nut  was  very  hard  ;  but,  thank 
God  !  it  has  been  happily  cracked.'  He  made  another  great  en- 
try into  Moscow,  when  a  laurel  wreath  was  let  down  upon  his 
head  as  he  passed  under  the  triumphal  arch  ;  but  he  spent  only 
two  months  in  the  capital,  and  went  off  to  Voronezh,  troubled 
by  reports  that  there  might  be  difficulties  with  the  Tartars,  if 
not  with  the  Turks.  In  consequence  of  these  rumours,  three 
regiments  of  troops  were  sent  from  Xovgorod  to  Kief,  and  bat- 
talions of  the  Preobrazhensky  and  Semenof  sky  inarched  to  Vo- 
ronezh. The  winter  was  cold,  but  there  was  little  snow,  and  it 
was  therefore  possible  for  Peter  to  stop  at  the  Ivan  lake,  to  in- 
spect the  works  which  had  been  begun  for  connecting  the  Don 
with  the  Volga,  by  means  of  a  canal  which  would  join  the  Upa, 
one  of  the  upper  branches  of  the  Don,  with  the  Oka.  The  work 
had  been  begun  in  1701,  and  was  then  being  pressed  vigorously 
forward.  It  was  never  finished.  At  Peter's  death  the  work  was 
stopped,  and  there  is  now  scarcely  a  trace  of  it. 

On  the  upper  waters  of  the  river  Voronezh,  Peter,  with  all 
his  suite,  stopped  at  a  large  and  handsome  country  place  which 
he  had  given  to  Menshikof,  and  in  honour  of  his  favourite 
founded  here  a  city,  which  he  called  Oranienburg.1  He  wrote 
to  Menshikof : 


1  Oranienburg,  or  Ranenburg,  as  it  is  now  called,  is  in  the  province  of 
Riazan,  and  numbers  at  the  present  time  about  7,000  inhabitants. 


1703.]  OKANIENBUUC  425 

'Mein  IIerz  :  Here,  thank  God  !  we  have  been  very  merry, 
not  letting  a  single  place  go  by.  We  named  the  town  with  the 
blessing  of  Kief,  with  bulwarks  and  gates,  of  which  I  send  a 
sketch  in  this  letter.  At  the  blessing  we  drank — at  the  first 
bastion,  brandy,  at  the  second,  sec,  at  the  third,  Rhine  wine,  at 
the  fourth,  beer,  at  the  fifth,  mead,  and  at  the  gates,  Rhine 
wine,  about  which  the  bearer  of  this  letter  will  report  to  you 
more  at  length.  All  goes  on  well,  only  grant,  O  God !  to  see 
you  in  joy.     You  know  why.' 

Although  Peter  wrote  the  letter  in  his  own  hand,  he  signed 
it  third  as  Pitirim  Protodiacon,  after  Yaniki,  the  Metropolitan 
of  Kief  and  Galicia  (probably  Ivan  Mussin-Pushkin),  and  Gi- 
deon, Archdeacon  (probably  Prince  Gregory  Pamodanofsky). 
The  letter  was  signed  by  twenty  others  who  took  part  in  this 
mummery. 

The  sketch  sent  by  Peter  represents  a  nearly  regular  penta- 
gon, with  bastions  at  the  corners  named  after  the  five  senses 
respectively — -Seeing,  Hearing,  Smelling,  Tasting,  and  Touch- 
ing— and  gates  called  Moscow,  Voronezh,  and  Schliisselburg. 
Le  Bruyn,  the  Dutch  artist,  accompanied  the  Tsar  on  this  jour- 
ney.    He  says : 

'  One  could  not  enter  the  house  without  passing  through  the 
gate  of  the  fort,  both  being  surrounded  by  the  same  wall  of 
earth,  which,  however,  is  not  of  great  extent.  There  are  sev- 
eral fine  bastions  well  garnished  with  cannon,  covered  on  the 
one  side  by  a  mountain,  and  on  the  other  by  a  marsh  or  kind 
of  lake.  When  I  entered  where  the  Tsar  was,  he  asked  me 
where  I  had  been.  I  replied  :  "  Where  it  had  pleased  Heaven 
and  our  drivers,  since  I  neither  knew  the  language  nor  the 
road.''  That  made  him  laugh,  and  he  told  it  to  the  Pussian 
lords  who  accompanied  him.  He  gave  me  a  bumper  to  punish 
me,  and  regaled  us  in  perfection,  having  a  cannon  fired  at 
each  toast.  After  the  feast  he  took  us  upon  the  ramparts, 
and  made  us  drink  different  liquors  on  each  bastion.  Final- 
ly, he  had  sledges  prepared  to  cross  the  frozen  marsh  and  see 
everything  from  there.  He  took  me  in  his  own  sledge,  with- 
out forgetting  the  liquor,  which  followed,  and  which  we  did 
not  spare.  We  returned  to  the  chateau,  where  the  glasses  be- 
gan again  to  make  the  round  and  to  warm  us.     As  the  fort 


426  PETEB   THE   GREAT. 

had  not  vci  been  named,  liis  Majesty  gave  it  the  name  of 
( >ranienburg.' 

After  many  festivities  at  Voronezh,  Le  Bruyn  asked  per- 
il ii»inn  of  t lie  Tsar  to  sketch,  which  he  immediately  granted, 
saying:  'We  have  diverted  ourselves  well.  After  that  we  have 
reposed  a  little.  Now  it  is  time  to  work.'  In  making  his 
sketches,  Le  Bruyn  suffered  much  from  the  curiosity  of  the 
Russians,  who  had  got  up  all  sorts  of  stories  about  him,  one 
being  that  he  was  one  of  the  Tsar's  servants,  executed  for  some 
crime  by  being  buried  up  to  his  waist  at  the  top  of  a  mountain, 
with  a  book  in  his  hand.  But  when,  a  few  days  after,  they 
found  that  the  supposed  criminal  had  changed  place,  it  was 
necessary  to  invent  another  explanation.  When  he  took  leave 
of  the  Tsar  to  go  back  to  Moscow,  Peter  was  '  amusing  himself, 
as  he  frequently  did,  with  an  ice-boat.  By  a  sudden  change  of 
course  his  boat  was  overturned,  but  he  immediately  picked  him- 
self up.  Half  an  hour  afterward  he  ordered  me  to  follow  him 
alone,  and  went  out  in  a  hired  sledge  with  two  horses.  One  of 
them  fell  into  a  hole,  but  they  soon  got  it  out.  He  made  me 
sit  next  to  him,  saying :  "  Let  us  go  to  the  shallop.  I  want  you 
to  see  a  bomb  fired,  because  you  were  not  here  when  they  were 
fired  before." '  After  this  had  been  shown,  Le  Bruyn  was  al- 
lowed to  go.  On  the  road,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Voronezh, 
he  found  many  post-houses,  inhabited  by  Circassians,  which 
pleased  him  greatly,  as  they  were  very  clean,  and  there  were 
generally  some  musicians,  who  played  wild  airs.  He  was  par- 
ticularly struck  with  the  half -naked  children  on  the  stoves,  with 
the  beauty  of  the  women  and  their  costume,  and  especially  with 
the  ruffles  around  their  necks. 

Peter  stayed  at  Voronezh  but  a  month.  He  was  unable  to 
do  much  on  the  fleet  in  the  very  cold  weather,  and  was  troubled, 
besides,  because  the  stock  of  iron  had  given  out  aud  an  epidemic 
with  great  mortality  prevailed  among  the  workmen.  Good  news 
having  come  from  Constantinople,  Peter  left  Voronezh  and  went 
to  Schliisselburg,  scarcely  stopping  at  Moscow.  Something  there 
appears  to  have  made  him  lose  his  self-control  and  give  way  to 
an  outburst  of  temper,  for  on  reaching  Novgorod  he  wrote  to 
Theodore  Apraxin :  '  How  I  went  away  I  do  not  know,  except 
that  I  was  very  contented  with  the  gift  of  Bacchus.     For  that 


1703.] 


CAPTURE   OF   NYENSKANZ. 


427 


reason  I  ask  the  pardon  of  all  if  I  offended  anyone,  and  espe- 
cially of  those  who  were  present  to  hid  me  good-bye.' 

In  pursuance  of  his  plan  of  gradual  conquest,  Peter  now  set 
out  with  an  expedition  of  20,000  men,  and  moved  down  the  right 
bank  of  the  Neva  to  the  fort  of  Nyenskanz.  This  was  on  the 
Neva  at  the  mouth  of  the  little  river  Okhta,  where  now  is  a  ship- 
ping-wharf, just  opposite  the  Institute  of  Smolna  and  the  Tau- 
rida  Palace.  The  place,  though  small,  was  prosperous,  deriving 
its  importance  from  numerous  saw-mills.     On  three  sides  of  it, 


Defeat  of  the  Swedish   Flotilla. 


at  a  little  distance,  were  unfinished  earth-works,  which  had  been 
begun  the  year  before,  and  which  now  served  excellently  the 
purposes  of  the  besiegers.  Batteries  were  placed  in  position,  and 
the  bombardment  began  on  May  11.  The  next  day  the  very 
small  garrison  capitulated.  The  fort  was  renamed  Slotburg  and 
became  the  nucleus  of  the  future  city  of  St.  Petersburg. 

That  night  came  news  that  a  Swedish  squadron  was  sailing 
up  the  gulf  toward  the  Neva.  It  signified  its  arrival  to  the  fort 
by  tiring  two  signal-guns,  which  were  immediately  answered,  in 
order  to  deceive  the  Swedes  and  draw  them  into  a  snare.     A 


428  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

boat  was  sent  up  the  river,  which  was  attacked  by  the  Russians, 
and  one  sailor  was  captured.  lie  informed  them  that  the  fleet 
consisted  of  nine  ships,  under  the  command  of  Vice-Admiral 
Nunimers.  Three  days  after,  two  Swedish  vessels  sailed  up  the 
liver,  but  came  to  anchor  off  the  Vasily  Island  on  account  of  the 
darkness.  The  next  day,  Sheremetief  sent  Peter  and  Menshi- 
kof  down  the  river,  with  two  regiments  of  guards  in  thirty 
1 1.  >ats.  They  concealed  themselves  behind  the  islands,  and  after 
maturing  a  plan,  attacked  the  Swedish  vessels  early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  May  18.  After  a  sharp  fight,  the  ships  using  their  can- 
non and  the  Russians  replying  with  hand-grenades  and  musketry, 
Peter  and  his  comrades  succeeded  in  boarding  and  capturing 
the  vessels,  and  brought  them  up  to  Slotburg.  Of  the  seventy- 
seven  men  that  composed  the  crews,  fifty-eight  were  killed.  The 
remainder  were  taken  prisoners.  For  this,  the  first  Russian 
naval  victory,  both  Peter  and  Menshikof  were  created  by  Shere- 
metief cavaliers  of  the  Order  of  St.  Andrew.1 

While  Peter  was  laying  the  foundation  of  his  new  capital, 
Sheremetief  was  sent  against  the  little  forts  of  Koporie  and 
Yamburg,  the  latter  on  the  river  Liiga,  only  twelve  miles  from 
Narva.     Both  towns  were  soon  taken. 

Peter  had  now  obtained  the  object  for  which  he  had  declare*] 
war.  He  occupied  the  Xeva,  and  could  communicate  with  the 
sea.  He  had  restored  to  Russia  her  ancient  province  of  Ingria, 
which  had  so  long  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Swedes.  It  is  not  to 
be  wondered,  therefore,  that  at  his  triumphal  entry  into  Mos- 
cow one  of  the  banners  represented  the  map  of  Ingria,  with  the 
apposite  inscription  from  the  Book  of  Maccabees :  '  We  have 
neither  taken  other  men's  land  nor  holden  that  which  appertain- 
ed to  others,  but  the  inheritance  of  our  fathers,  which  our  ene- 
mies had  wrongfully  in  possession  a  certain  time.  Wherefore 
we,  having  opportunity,  hold  the  inheritance  of  our  fathers.' 

As  the  capture  of  Narva  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  would 
have  facilitated  the  conquest  of  Ingria,  so  now  it  was  necessary 
to  get  possession  of  this  stronghold  in  order  to  be  certain  of  re- 

1  Peter  was  the  sixth  knight  of  the  order  which  he  had  founded  in  1(>99  on 
his  return  from  Europe.  The  others  were  Admiral  Theodore  Golovin,  the 
Cossack  Hetman  Mazeppa,  Sheremetief,  the  Prussian  Envoy  Printzen,  and  the 
Saxon  Chancellor  Beichling. 


1704.]  DORPAT   TAKEN.  429 

taming  the  provinces  which  had  already  been  won.  The  latter 
part  of  the  summer  of  1703  Sheremetief  devoted  to  a  syste- 
matic devastation  of  Esthonia  and  Livonia  as  far  as  Iteval  and 
Pernan.  The  ruin  was  as  great,  and  the  amount  of  booty  and 
the  number  of  captives  even  greater,  than  in  his  march  of  the 
preceding  year.  In  the  summer  of  1704,  after  a  little  wavering 
as  to  whether  he  should  not  make  a  diversion  into  Curland  in 
order  to  assist  King  Augustus,  Peter  decided  on  attacking  both 
Dorpat  and  Xarva.  The  Swedish  flotilla  on  Lake  Peipus  was 
destroyed  or  captured,  but  the  siege  of  Dorpat— a  town  which 
had  been  founded  675  years  before  by  the  Russian  Grand  Duke 
Yaroslav,  under  the  name  of  Yurief — owing  to  the  bad  disposi- 
tions of  Sheremetief,  proceeded  slowly,  and  Peter  was  obliged 
to  go  thither  in  person,  lie  found  the  troops  in  good  enough 
condition,  but  the  batteries  placed  with  an  utter  ignorance  of 
engineering,  so  that  all  the  ammunition  spent  was  simply  wasted. 
Every  man,  he  says,  threw  the  blame  on  some  one  else.  He 
drew  up  and  carried  out  a  new  plan  of  operations,  and  Dorpat, 
after  a  heavy  bombardment,  was  taken  by  storm  on  July  24. 
The  siege  had  lasted  five  weeks,  and  5,000  bombs  had  been 
thrown  into  the  town. 

Peter  Apraxin,  the  brother  of  Theodore  Apraxin,  the  Di- 
rector of  the  Admiralty,  was  in  the  autumn  of  1703  given  com- 
mand of  Yamburg.  The  recollections  of  the  great  defeat  at 
Xarva  were  still  so  vivid  that  both  he  and  his  brother  were 
much  troubled  at  this  vicinity  to  the  Swedes,  and  this  was  in- 
creased when  he  was  sent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Narova,  to  pre- 
vent a  Swedish  squadron  from  landing  stores  and  men.  Some 
did  manage  to  slip  by  him,  to  the  great  anger  of  the  Tsar.  At 
the  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  Swedish  squadron,  Peter  changed 
his  plan  of  attacking  Kexholm,  on  Lake  Ladoga,  and  hastened 
with  all  his  force  to  Narva,  where,  about  the  middle  of  June, 
he  took  up  his  position  in  the  same  entrenchment  which  he  had 
thrown  up  four  years  before.  It  was  a  blockade  rather  than  a 
siege,  for  the  Russian  artillery  had  not  yet  come  up,  and  She- 
remetief and  his  troops  were  still  detained  at  Dorpat.  When 
the  armies  were  joined,  the  Russians  had  fully  45,000  men  and 
150  pieces  of  artillery.  The  Swedish  garrison  consisted  of 
4,500  men,  with  432  guns  in  Xarva  and  128  in  Ivangorod.     The 


430  PETER   THE    GREAT. 

Russians  were  troubled  by  the  frequent  sorties  of  the  garrison, 
as  well  as  by  the  constant  rumours  which  reached  them  that 
Schlippenbachj  with  a  strong  Swedish  force,  was  advancing 
from  Reval.     In  order  to  draw  the  enemy  out  of  the  town,  on 

the  advice  of  Menshikof  the  Russians  resorted  to  the  expedient 
of  dressing  up  some  of  their  troops  in  Swedish  uniforms,  and 
having  a  sham  light  with  them  on  the  road  to  "Wesenberg.  The 
Russians  gradually  retired  as  if  they  had  been  beaten,  and  the 
Swedes  came  out  from  the  town  to  attack  them  in  the  rear, 
accompanied  even  by  women  and  children  in  the  hope  of  booty. 
They  all  fell  into  the  ambush  prepared  for  them:  300  men 
were  killed  and  forty-six  taken  prisoners.  When  Field-marshal 
Ogilvv,  who,  through  the  intervention  of  Golitsyn  and  Patkul, 
had  just  entered  the  Russian  service  for  three  years,  arrived  at 
the  camp,  he  found  fault  with  the  siege-wrorks,  and  said  that  it 
would  be  impossible  ever  to  capture  Xarva  from  that  side.  On 
his  recommendation  batteries  were  placed  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Xarova,  and  the  bombardment  began  on  Sunday,  August 
10.  In  the  course  of  ten  days  over  4,600  bombs  were  thrown 
into  the  town,  breaches  were  made  in  the  bastions,  and  Horn, 
the  commandant,  was  urged  to  surrender,  but  he  repulsed  all 
propositions.  On  August  20  the  Russians  carried  the  place  by 
storm.  After  they  were  in  full  possession,  Horn,  then  too  late, 
tried  to  capitulate,  and  himself  beat  the  drum  with  his  fists  for 
a  parley,  but  the  Russians  refused  to  listen.  The  carnage  was 
fearful,  and  neither  women  nor  children  were  spared.  Out  of 
4,500  men  in  the  Swedish  garrison  only  1,800  remained  alive. 
Two  hours  after  the  surrender,  Peter,  Field-marshal  Ogilvv, 
and  some  others  rode  about  the  town,  and  ordered  trumpets  to 
be  sounded  in  all  the  streets  to  stop  the  pillage,  and  the  Tsar 
himself  struck  down  one  soldier  who  refused  to  obey  his  orders. 
Coming  into  the  town-hall,  he  threw  his  sword  down  on  the 
table  before  the  trembling  councillors,  and  said:  'Do  not  be 
afraid.  This  is  not  Swedish  but  Russian  blood.'  Horn  was 
captured,  and  after  being  confined  for  twelve  days  in  the  same 
prison  where  the  Russian  officers  had  languished,  was  sent  to 
Russia,  where  he  remained  a  prisoner  for  fifteen  years.  His 
wife  was  killed  in  the  assault,  and  his  children — one  son  and 
four  daughters — were  taken  charge  of  by  General  Chambers 


1704.]  CAPTUItE   OF   NAKVA.  431 

and  educated  at  the  Tsar's  expense.  Shortly  before  the  peace 
of  ^Nystad,  Horn,  at  his  own  request,  was  allowed  to  go  to 
Sweden,  on  his  promise  to  return  in  case  no  one  were  exchanged 
for  him.  He  forfeited  his  word  and  never  came  back,  and  the 
Swedes  even  kept  the  galley  on  which  he  M'ent. 

The  castle  of  Ivangorod  held  out  for  a  week  longer,  but  was 
obliged  to  surrender  when  all  the  provisions  had  been  exhausted. 
Peter  wrote  to  Ramodanofskv :  'Where  we  had  such  ^rief  four 
years  ago  we  are  now  joyous  victors ;  for  by  the  scaling-ladder 
and  the  sword  we  have  taken  this  famous  fortress  in  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour.' 

The  satisfaction  of  the  Tsar  and  of  the  Russian  people  was 
great,  and  the  moral  effect  of  the  victory  was  tremendous.1 


1  Solovief,  xiv.  ;  Ustrialof,  IV.  iv.  v.  vii.  ix.  xi.  xii.  and  appendices ;  Jour- 
nal of  Swedish   War  ;  Fryxell,  I. ;  Lundblad  ;  Sarauw  ;  Le  Bruyn. 


XLY 


MENSHIKOF  AND  CATHERINE. 


With  two  persons  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter  we 
have  now  to  make  a  closer  acquaintance. 

Peter's   early   intimacy  with   Menshikof   had   produced   a 

friendship  which  grad- 
ually grew  into  an  af- 
fection as  the  Tsar  saw 
the  great  qualities  and 
remarkable  abilities  of 
his  companion  develop. 
It  was  after  the  siege 
of  Xoteborg  that  Men- 
shikof was  admitted  to 
the  full  friendship  of 
his  master,  became  the 
confidant  of  his  plans 
and  feelings  and  his 
trusted  adviser,  and  in 
every  way  occupied  the 
place  in  Peter's  friend- 
ship which  had  been 
vacant  since  the  death 
of  Lefort.  For  this 
there  were  also  other 
reasons  of  a  more  pri- 
vate nature. 

M«nshik6f.  Much  obscurity  rests 

upon  the  parentage  of  Menshikof.  His  father  served  in  the 
guard,  and  was  buried — together  with  his  wife — at.Preobra- 
zhenskv.     What  his  condition  in  life  was  we  do  not  know.     In 


MENSHIKOF.  433 

the  diploma  creating  Menshikof  a  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire,  lie  is  stated  to  be  descended  from  an  ancient  and  noble 
Lithuanian  family.  Even  at  an  earlier  period  than  this,  some  of 
Menshikofs  enemies  admitted  his  Lithuanian  origin,  and  that 
many  relatives  of  his  were  landed  proprietors  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Minsk. 

There  seems  to  be  no  foundation  for  the  story  that  Menshi- 
kof, in  his  boyhood,  sold  pies  in  the  streets  of  Moscow,  whatever 
he  may  have  done  for  amusement  in  the  camp  at  Preobrazhen- 
sky.  Born  in  November,  1673,  he  was  a  year  and  a  half  younger 
than  Peter,  and  was,  from  his  earliest  boyhood,  attached  to  his 
service.  He  was  one  of  the  Tsar's  play-soldiers,  and  was  among 
the  first  enrolled  in  the  Preobrazhensky  regiment.  Though  he 
possessed  no  recognised  court  rank  and  bore  no  official  title, 
he  was  attached  to  the  personal  service  of  the  Tsar  as  denstchih, 
orderly  or  adjutant,  and  in  that  capacity  wTas  with  Peter  day  and 
night,  taking  his  turn  of  sleeping  in  the  adjoining  room,  or  on 
the  floor  at  the  foot  of  his  master's  bed.  A  letter  from  Peter  to 
him  in  1700  would  seem  to  show  that  at  that  time,  at  least,  he 
had  especial  charge  of  the  domestic  economy  of  the  palace  and 
of  the  wardrobe  of  the  Tsar.  Handsome,  witty,  lively,  good- 
humoured,  of  quick  intelligence,  and  ready  at  those  sports  and 
exercises  which  Peter  preferred,  Menshikof  soon  became  the  fa- 
vourite of  the  Tsar,  and,  for  a  time,  popular  in  Preobrazhensky, 
where  he  was  known  by  the  nickname  of  Alexashka,  or  by  his 
patronym  Danilovitch.  Both  he  and  Gabriel  Menshikof — who 
was  presumably  his  brother — made  their  appearance  in  the 
'great  company  of  singers'  who  sang  carols  during  the  Christ- 
mas holidays  at  the  house  of  General  Gordon.  He  took  part 
with  Peter  in  the  expeditions  against  Azof,  and  accompanied  him 
to  Holland  as  a  volunteer,  being  first  in  the  list  of  the  company 
of  which  Peter  was  the  head.  He  worked  by  the  side  of  the 
Tsar  at  Amsterdam,  and  was  almost  his  equal  in  ship-carpentry, 
being  the  only  one  of  the  volunteers  who  showed  any  aptitude 
for  the  business.  With  Peter,  he  visited  England  and  Vienna, 
and  the  passport  for  the  Tsar's  proposed  journey  to  Yenice  was 
made  out  in  Menshikofs  name.  It  was  after  his  return,  and 
especially  about  the  time  of  the  executions  of  the  Streltsi,  that  he 
came  prominently  into  public  notice  as  one  of  those  who  had  a 
Vol.  I.— 28 


434  PETEE  THE   GliEAT. 

certain  amount  of  influence  with  Peter.  After  Lefort's  death  this 
influence  visibly  increased,  but  it  was  not  for  several  years  after 
that  he  obtained  over  Peter  the  same  kind  of  power  as  Lefort 
had,  or  was  as  much  trusted  by  him.  Up  to  1703,  Peter  always 
addressed  him  in  his  letters  as  Mem  Herz  and  Mei/n  Herzenehen. 
In  1704,  it  was  Meln  Liebste  Camerad,  Meln  Liebste  Vrient,  and 
M<  in  Bed  Vrient,  and  after  that  always  Meln  Bruder.  At  the 
end  of  the  letters  is  the  constantly  repeated  phrase:  'All  is 
well !  Only  God  grant  to  see  you  in  joy  again !  You  yourself 
know." 

The  more  opportunity  Menshikof  had  of  exercising  his 
powers,  the  greater  ability  he  displayed,  and  his  rewards  were 
proportional.  After  the  capture  of  Noteborg  he  was  made  gov- 
ernor of  Schliisselburg,  and  subsequently  of  Xyenskanz  and  St. 
Petersburg,  and  not  long  after  governor-general  of  Ingria,  Kare- 
lia, and  Esthonia.  For  the  capture  of  the  Swedish  vessels  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Neva,  he,  together  with  Peter,  was  made  a 
cavalier  of  St.  Andrew.  In  the  winter  of  1703,  Peter,  on  his 
journey  to  Voronezh,  founded  near  Menshikof  s  estate,  and  in 
his  honour,  the  town  of  Oranienburg.  In  1703,  through  the 
intervention  of  Golitsyn,  the  Russian  envoy  at  Yienna,  he  was 
made  a  Count  of  Hungary,  and,  in  1705,  on  his  own  proposition, 
the  Emperor  Joseph  created  him  a  Prince  of  the  Holy  Roman 
Empire.  This  title  was  confirmed  in  Russia,  and,  two  years 
later,  when  the  Tsar  had  begun  to  create  new  titles  of  nobility, 
he  named  Menshikof  Prince  of  Izhora,  with  the  title  of  High- 
ness,  and  gave  over  to  him  the  districts  of  Yamburg  and  Ivoporie. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  only  two  weeks  afterward,  Menshi- 
kof wrote  to  Ivorsakof,  the  Landrichter  of  Ingria,  to  ascertain 
the  population,  the  number  of  parishes,  and  estates,  and  the  rev- 
enue to  be  derived  from  them,  and  ordered  his  name  to  be  men- 
tioned with  that  of  the  sovereign  in  the  public  prayers,  both  in 
the  Russian  and  the  Lutheran  churches. 

Unfortunately,  Menshikof  misused  his  powers  and  position, 
as  well  as  the  confidence  which  the  Tsar  so  freely  gave  him. 
He  was  ambitious  and  avaricious.  At  court  he  was  disliked  and 
feared,  and  among  the  people  he  was  hated.  In  Poland,  in 
Little  Russia,  m  the  Baltic  provinces — wherever  he  held  com- 
mand— bis  greed  and  his  extortions  excited  the  discontent  and 


MENSHIKOF. 


435 


the  complaints  of  the  inhabitants.  The  familiar  and  affection- 
ate letters  of  Peter  were  interrupted  by  outbursts  of  anger  and 
indignation,  when  some  new  misdeed  had  come  to  his  ears. 
Menshikof  wrote  abject  apologies,  and  had  a  powerful  protector 
in  Catherine,  and  the  Tsar  always  relented.  Menshikof  s  extra- 
ordinary talents,  his  initiative  and  his  energy  rendered  him  indis- 
pensable to  Peter  in  carrying  out  his  ideas  and  reforms,  and  his 
personal  devotion  and  sympathy  made  him  necessary  as  a  friend. 
The  immense  for- 
tune which  he  had 
accumulated  was 
scarcely  affected  by 
the  heavy  fines 
which  the  Tsar 
from  time  to  time 
condemned  him  to 
pay,  and  after  a 
short  period  of  dis- 
grace he  always  re- 
turned to  favour 
and  power.  Affec- 
tion made  Peter  in- 
consistent, and  pre- 
served Menshikof 
from  the  fate  of 
Gagarin  and  Xes- 
terof,  who  expiated 
their  crimes  on  the 
scaffold.  On  one 
memorable  occa- 
sion, however,  the  Tsar  said  to  Catherine,  after  again  granting 
pardon:  'Menshikof  was  conceived  in  iniquity,  born  in  sin, 
and  will  end  his  life  as  a  rascal  and  a  cheat,  and  if  he  do  not 
reform  he  will  lose  his  head.'  But  his  fall,  exile,  and  death  were 
to  come  only  under  Peter's  grandson,  after  he  had  reached  the 
zenith  of  his  power,  and  had  been  for  two  years  the  real  ruler 
of  Russia. 

At  the  old  court  of  the  Tsaritsas,  in  addition  to  the  ladies 
of  the  palace  and  the  dames  of  the  bed-chamber,  there  were 


Guard-Room  of  the  Ancient  Terem. 


436  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

always  a  number  of  young  girls  of  similar  age  to  the  Tsaritsa, 
and  to  the  princesses,  who  bore  the  title  of  Boyiir  Maidens. 
Their  chief  duty  consisted  in  being  companions  to  the  prin- 
cesses, in  playing  and  talking  with  them,  and  sharing  their 
amusements.  After  the  death  of  the  Tsaritsa  Natalia,  the  life 
of  all  the  princesses  became  freer.  The  doors  of  the  Terem,  or 
women's  apartments  were  more  easily  accessible  to  outsiders, 
and  the  princesses  themselves  frequently  made  excursions  into 
the  town  and  country.  Peter's  sister  JSatalia  took  up  her  abode 
with  him  at  Preobrazhensky,  bringing  with  her  a  small  court. 
Among  other  maids  of  honour  wrere  three  sisters,  Daria,  Bar- 
bara, and  Axmia  Arsenief,  the  daughters  of  a  governor  some- 
where in  Siberia.  Menshikof,  as  a  constant  companion  of 
Peter,  was  admitted  to  the  court  of  Natalia,  and  there  soon 
sprang  up  a  strong  attachment  between  him  and  Daria  Arse- 
nief, which  on  account  of  his  absences  brought  about  a  regular 
correspondence.  Presents  were  also  frequently  exchanged — 
sometimes  rings  and  jewels,  sometimes  shirts,  dressing-gowns, 
bed-linen,  and  neck-ties — and  occasionally  a  little  souvenir  wras 
put  in  for  the  Tsar.  The  letters  were  not  long  and  were 
often  written  on  scraps  of  brown  paper,  yet  Menshikof  kept 
his  friends  well  informed  of  his  movements  and  his  successes, 
although  even  then  he  was  frequently  upbraided  for  writing 
so  seldom.  The  intimacy  had  begun  some  time  in  the  year 
1700,  and  when  Menshikof  returned  to  Moscow,  in  1703,  two 
of  the  Arsenief  s  came  to  live  in  the  house  which  his  two  sis- 
ters kept  for  him.  Maria  Danilovna  Menshikof  in  December 
married  Alexis  Golovin,  the  brother  of  Theodore  Golovin,  the 
Director  of  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,  after  which  the 
family  consisted  of  Anna  Menshikof,  Barbara  and  Daria  Arse- 
nief, and  their  aunt  Anisia  Tolstoi.  A  few  months  later  a  new 
member  was  added  to  the  household — Catherine  Skavronsky, 
better  known  to  us  as  the  Empress  Catherine  I. 

The  early  history  of  Catherine  is  as  obscure  as  that  of  Men- 
si  likof.  She  was  in  all  probability  the  daughter  of  a  Lithuanian 
peasant-named  Samuel  Skavronsky,  settled  in  Livonia,  and  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Pingen,  not  far  from  Dorpat.  At  an 
early  age,  the  little  Martha — for  so  she  was  then  called — was 
left  an  orphan  and  destitute,  and  was  taken  into  the  family  of 


CATHERINE.  43? 

Pastur  Gluck,  at  Marienburg,  where,  without  l)eing  exactly  a 
servant,  she  looked  after  the  children,  took  them  to  church,  and 
made  herself  useful  in  the  household.  A  Swedish  dragoon  fell 
in  love  with  her.  She  was  betrothed  to  him,  and  was  to  many 
him  in  a  week  or  two,  but  in  the  midst  of  the  festivities  came 
an  order  which  sent  him  to  join  his  company  at  Riga.  He  was 
killed  in  an  engagement  in  1705.  After  the  capture  of  Mari- 
enburg in  1702  by  Sheremetief,  Pastor  Gluck  and  his  family 
were  sent  to  Moscow,  but  the  orphan  remained  in  the  service  of 
the  field-marshal.  She  was  then  seventeen  years  old  and  very 
pretty.  Although  at  this  time  she  could  neither  read  nor  write, 
she  had  been  well  taught  by  Pastor  Gluck,  possessed  quick  in- 
telligence and  a  merry  humour.  Her  hair  gradually  became 
dark,  and  her  hands,  which  were  coarse  with  work,  grew  whiter 
and  more  delicate  with  time.  In  the  autumn  of  1703  we  find 
her  in  Moscow,  bearing  the  name  of  Catherine,  and  an  inmate 
of  Menshikof  s  house.  Menshikof  was  in  Moscow  from  August 
to  December  1703,  but  unfortunately  his  correspondence  with 
the  Arseniefs,  from  the  time  he  went  back  to  St.  Petersburg 
until  the  end  of  July  1704,  has  not  been  preserved.  Peter  did 
not  go  to  Moscow  until  the  end  of  October  1703,  and  remained 
there  until  December  5,  when  he  went  to  Voronezh.  He  was 
again  in  Moscow  from  December  28  to  March  6,  1704.  In  one 
of  his  visits  to  the  Arsenief  ladies,  during  his  stay  in  the  capi- 
tal, Peter  saw  and  became  acquainted  with  Catherine.  He  was 
struck  by  her  appearance,  and  the  readiness  of  her  replies,  and 
formed  a  strong  attachment  for  her.  This  was  just  at  the  time 
when  he  broke  with  Anna  Mons,  and  his  relations  with  Cath- 
erine probably  began  in  pique  at  the  infidelity  of  his  old  mis- 
tress. The  acquaintance  ripened  fast.  In  August  of  the  same 
year  the  family  went  to  visit  Peter  and  Menshikof  at  ]Marva, 
and  remained  with  them  for  some  months.  A  child  was  born 
during  the  winter,  at  least  in  March  1705  we  find  Peter  writing 
to  the  two  Arseniefs :  '  I  am  rarely  merry  here.  O  mothers ! 
do  not  abandon  my  little  Petriishka.  Have  some  clothes  made 
for  him  soon,  and  go  as  you  will,  but  order  that  he  shall  have 
enough  to  eat  and  drink,  and  give  my  regards,  ladies,  to  Alex- 
ander Danilovitch.  And  you  have  shown  me  great  unkindness 
in  not  being  willing  to  write  to  me  about  your  health.'     Men- 


438  I'KTEK   THE   GREAT. 

sMkof  had  just  at  this  time  written  to  them  to  go  to  him  at 

W'iliin,  and  on  the  back  of  the  letter  Peter  had  added:  'Don't 
believe  all,  but  I  think  it  is  not  far  from  the  truth.  If  you  go 
to  Alexashka,  remember  me  to  him.  Piter.'  Owing  to  the 
bad  weather  the  ladies  could  not  get  to  Menshikof,  who  was 
then  at  Vitebsk,  until  after  Easter.  Propriety  demanded  that 
the  family  should  keep  together.  The  Arsenief  ladies  needed 
their  aunt  to  matronise  them,  and  Catherine,  who  was  confided 
to  their  charge,  could  not  be  left  alone  in  Moscow. 

Menshikof  had  not  long  enjoyed  the  society  of  the  ladies 
when  he  received  the  disquieting  news  of  the  illness  of  the 
Tsar.  Peter  wrote  on  May  19  :  '  I  should  long  ago  have  been 
with  }tou,  except  that  for  my  sins  and  my  misfortune  I  have 
been  kept  here  in  this  way.  On  the  very  day  I  was  starting 
from  here,  that  is,  Thursday  the  15th,  a  fever  took  me  and  I 
was  obliged  to  return.  In  the  morning,  after  taking  some  med- 
icine, I  felt  a  little  better.  The  next  day  I  wished  to  go,  but 
the  fever  returned  stronger  than  before.  The  next  day  I  felt 
better,  and  after  that  ill  again.  Thus  we  know  that  it  is  a  ter- 
tian fever,  on  account  of  which  I  must  stay  here  some  time  yet, 
hoping  in  the  mercy  of  God  Almighty  that  my  illness  will  not 
be  prolonged.  Hey !  how  much  I  suffer  from  my  illness,  and 
also  from  grief  that  time  is  lost,  as  well  as  from  my  separation 
from  you !  But,  for  God's  sake,  do  not  be  sad.  I  have  written 
you  all  the  details  only  that  you  should  not  receive  them  from 
others  with  exaggerations,  as  usual.' 

On  the  25th,  although  Peter  was  better,  he  sent  for  Menshi- 
kof :  '  To  my  illness  is  added  the  grief  of  separation  from  you. 
I  have  endured  it  for  a  long  time,  but  cannot  stand  it  any  more. 
Be  good  enough  to  come  as  soon  as  possible,  so  that  I  shall  be 
merrier,  as  you  yourself  can  judge.  Bring  with  you  an  English 
doctor,  and  not  many  followers.'  But  Menshikof  had  already 
set  out,  and  reached  Moscow  on  the  very  day  the  letter  was 
written.  He  immediately  informed  his  friends  at  Vitebsk  that 
he  had  found  the  Tsar  much  better,  and  announced  their  speedy 
arrival.  By  June  10,  Peter  was  well  enough  to  start,  and  they 
arrived  at  Vitebsk  on  the  19th.  After  a  month's  longer  stay 
here,  the  ladies  returned  to  Moscow,  and  in  October  another 
son  was  born  and  named  Paul.    The  Arseniefs  hastened  to  con- 


CATHERINE.  439 

gratnlate  Peter,  and  the  mother  herself  signed  the  letter  '  Cath- 
erine with  two  others.' 

What  with  the  visit  of  the  Tsar  to  Moscow  and  the  sojourn 
of  the  ladies  in  the  camp,  both  Peter  and  Menshikof  managed 
to  enjoy  for  a  good  part  of  the  time  the  society  of  their  mis- 
tresses. Still  Peter  and  Menshikof  were  sometimes  separated, 
and  the  ladies  could  not  be  with  both  at  once.  Peter  had  ob- 
tained a  promise  from  Menshikof  that  he  would  marry  Daria 
Arsenief,  and  at  times  was  fearful  lest  he  should  not  keep  his 
word.  He  evidently  himself  wished  to  marry  Catherine,  but 
still  had  some  scruples  about  it  during  the  lifetime  of  his  wife 
Eudoxia.  In  April,  1706,  he  writes  to  Menshikof  from  St. 
Petersburg,  where  the  ladies  were  then  staying  in  MenshikoFs 
house :  '  As  you  know,  we  are  living  here  in  paradise,  but  one 
idea  never  leaves  me,  about  which  you  yourself  know,  but  I 
place  my  confidence  not  on  human  will,  but  on  the  divine  will 
and  mercy.'  But  while  Peter  was  in  '  paradise,'  Menshikof,  in 
spite  of  the  frequent  letters,  and  the  presents  of  dressing-gowns 
and  shirts,  felt  lonely,  and  begged  Peter,  when  he  left  St. 
Petersburg,  to  send  the  ladies  to  Smolensk.  Finally,  on  June 
28,  Peter  and  the  ladies  arrived  at  Smolensk  from  one  direction, 
and  Menshikof  from  the  other.  Shortly  afterward  they  all 
went  to  Kief,  but  Menshikof  had  to  go  off  with  his  dragoons  on 
the  campaign,  and  from  the  army  sent  his  friend  Daria  a  pres- 
ent of  five  lemons — all  that  could  be  found — and  suggested  to 
her  to  use  them  some  time  when  the  Tsar  was  present.  Peter 
himself  thanked  Menshikof  for  the  lemons,  and  in  a  subsequent 
letter  called  him  to  Kief :  '  It  is  very  necessary  for  you  to  come 
by  Assumption  Day,  in  order  to  accomplish  what  we  have  already 
sufficiently  talked  about  before  I  go.'  Menshikof  came  to  Kief, 
and  on  August  29,  1706,  married  Daria  Arsenief.  Two  days 
afterward,  Peter,  Catherine,  and  the  aunt  Anisia  Tolstoi  went 
off  to  St.  Petersburg.  Barbara  Arsenief  and  Anna  Menshikof 
remained  in  Kief.  The  family  was  divided,  and  Catherine  now 
had  a  matron  with  whom  she  could  travel. 

The  day  after  Peter's  arrival  in  St.  Petersburg  the  Neva 
overflowed  its  banks.  Boats  navigated  the  streets,  and  the 
water  was  nearly  two  feet  deep  in  the  palace  of  the  Tsar.  '  It 
was  very  amusing,'  wrote  Peter  to  Menshikof,  '  to  see  how  peo- 


440  PETEE   THE   GKEAT. 

pie  sat  on  the  roofs  and  trees,  just  as  in  the  time  of  the  deluge, 
and  not  only  men,  but  old  women.'  Peter  was  so  merry  over 
this  new  phase  of  his  beloved  town  that  he  sent  Menshik6f 
salutations,  not  only  from  Catherine  and  himself,  but  also  from 
his  favourite  dog  Lisette.1 

Menshikof  could  scarcely  have  had  a  better  wife.  She,  like 
Catherine,  was  a  true  officer's  wife,  looked  after  her  husband's 
comforts,  and  accompanied  him  in  many  of  his  campaigns — 
sometimes  even,  it  is  said,  on  horseback. 

In  1T0T  Catherine  was  privately  married  to  Peter  at  St. 
Petersburg,  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  affair  on  the  Pruth,  that 
she  was  publicly  and  officially  acknowledged  as  the  Tsaritsa. 

Long  before  the  formal  public  nuptials  in  1712,  Catherine 
had  given  up  the  Catholic  religion,  in  which  she  had  been  born, 
and  the  Lutheran,  in  which  she  had  been  educated,  and  had 
been  received  into  the  Russian  Church.  The  Tsarevitch  Alexis 
acted  as  her  godfather,  for  which  reason  she  added  to  Catherine 
the  patronym  of  Alexeievna. 

A  fatality  seemed  to  attend  the  many  children  of  this  union. 
The  hoys  all  died  in  childhood  or  infancy.  Two  daughters, 
Anne  and  Elizabeth,  lived,  the  latter  to  become  Empress. 

Even  when  on  the  throne  Catherine  never  forgot  her  origin. 
The  widow  of  Pastor  Gluck  was  given  a  pension,  his  children 
were  well  married,  or  were  put  in  positions  at  court.  She  as- 
sisted the  student  "Wurm,  whom  she  had  known  when  he  lived 
in  Pastor  Gluck's  house  at  Marienburg.  At  her  request  Peter 
hunted  up  her  family.  Her  brother  Carl  Skavronsky,  a  stable- 
boy  at  a  post-station  in  Curland,  was  brought  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  educated,  and  subsequently  created  a  count.  His  descend- 
ants married  into  the  well-known  families  of  Sapieha,  Engel- 
hardt,  Bagration,  Yorontsof,  and  Ivorff. 

After  Peter's  death,  Catherine's  two  sisters  and  their  family 
came  to  St.  Petersburg.     Christina,  the  elder,  was  married  to  a 

]  This  was  the  dog  for  which  a  priest  of  Kozluf  got  into  trouble  in  1708. 
On  coming  back  from  Moscow  he  had  told  his  acquaintances :  '  I  saw  the 
Tsar  as  he  drove  out  of  the  court  of  Prince  Menshikof,  and  a  little  dog 
jumped  into  his  carriage,  and  the  Tsar  took  up  the  dog  and  kissed  it  on  the 
head.'  Some  little  time  afterward  the  priest  was  arrested  and  tried  for  using 
improper  language  about  the  Tsar. 


CATHERINE.  441 

Lithuanian  peasant,  Simon  Heinrich,  who,  together  with  riches 
and  honours,  received  the  name  of  Hendrikof.  Anna,  the 
younger,  had  married  the  Polish  peasant  Michael  Yefim,  who 
became  the  founder  of  the  Yefiinofsky  family.  The  Empress 
Elizabeth  gave  the  title  of  count  to  both  families. 

The  opposite  of  Eudoxia,  Catherine  was  the  wife  that  Peter 
needed.  She  rose  to  his  level,  and  showed  a  remarkable  adap- 
tability in  her  new  position.  Her  gifts  of  head  and  heart  were 
.^uch  that  she  was  able  not  only  to  share  his  outward  life,  his 
pleasures,  and  his  sorrows,  but  also  to  take  part  in  his  iimer 
life,  enter  into  his  views  and  plans,  and  sympathise  with  his 
aspirations.  Her  conversation  cheered  him,  her  presence  com- 
forted and  consoled  him,  and  aided  him  to  bear  his  sudden  at- 
tacks of  nervous  suffering.  Their  correspondence  is  simple, 
unaffected,  and  familiar,  and  shows  constantly  how  well  suited 
they  were  to  each  other,  how  warmly  they  loved  each  other, 
and  what  a  human  and  lovable  nature  Peter  had,  in  spite  of 
his  great  faults  and  imperfections. 

Many  of  the  letters  are  trivial,  some  are  coarse,1  all  are  marked 
by  good  humour,  and  are  full  of  personal  allusions  and  little 
jests.  Some  of  them  we  shall  have  occasion  to  quote  in  their 
proper  place.  The  following  extracts  from  others  will  suffice  as 
examples  of  their  character  : 

k  Moeder, 

'  Since  I  went  away  from  thee  I  have  no  news  of  what  I  want 
to  know,  and  especially  how  soon  thou  wilt  be  in  Wilna.  1  am 
bored  without  thee,  and  thou,  I  think,  art  the  same.  Here, 
thank  God,  all  is  well.  King  Augustus  has  come  in  and  Kras- 
sau  has  gone  out ;  Leszczynski  has  let  his  beard  grow  because 
his  crown  has  died  out.  The  Poles  are  constantly  in  conference 
about  the  affairs  of  Ivashka  Khmelnitsky."  .   .  . 

'  From  Lublin,  capital  of  Ivashka,  August  31,  1709.' 

'  "Warsaw,  Sept.  24,  1709.  .  .  .  Thanks  for  thy  package.  I 
send  thee  some  fresh  lemons.     Thou  dost  jest   about  amuse- 

1  The  manners  of  the  time  permitted  a  freedom  of  language  that  is  not 
tolerated  now  ;  there  is.  however,  nothing  in  these  letters  that  approaches  the 
tone  of  much  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Duchess  of  Orleans. 

2  I.e.,  are  carousing. 


442  PETEIt   THE   GREAT. 

ments  ;  we  have  none,  for  we  are  old  and  not  that  kind  of  peo- 
ple. .  .  .  Give  my  regards  to  Aunty.  Her  bridegroom  had  an 
interview  day  before  yesterday  with  Ivashka,  and  had  a  bad  fall 
on  the  boat  and  now  lies  powerless;  which  break  gently  to 
Aunty  that  she  do  not  go  to  pieces.  .  .  .' 

'  Marienwerder,  October  16,  1709.  .  .  .  Give  my  regards  to 
Aunty.  That  she  has  fallen  in  love  with  a  monk  I  have  already 
told  her  bridegroom,  about  which  he  is  very  sad,  and  from  grief 
wishes  himself  to  commit  some  follies.' 

'  Katerinushka,  my  friend,  how  art  thou ! 

'  We  arrived  here  well,  thank  God,  and  to-morrow  begin  our 
cure.  This  place  is  so  merry,  you  might  call  it  an  honourable 
dungeon  for  it  lies  between  such  high  mountains  that  one 
scarcely  sees  the  sun.  Worst  of  all  there  is  no  good  beer. 
However  we  hope  God  will  give  us  good  from  the  waters.  I 
send  thee  herewith  a  present,  a  new-fashioned  clock,  put  under 
glass  on  account  of  the  dust,  and  a  seal.  ...  I  couldn't  get  more 
on  account  of  my  hurry,  for  I  was  only  one  day  in  Dresden. — 
Carlsbad,  14  September,  1711.' 

'  Carlsbad,  Sept.  19,  1711.  .  .  .  We,  thank  God,  are  well, 
only  our  bellies  are  swelled  up  with  water,  because  we  drink  like 
horses,  and  we  have  nothing  else  to  do  except.  .  .  .  You  write 
that  on  account  of  the  cure  I  should  not  hurry  to  you.  It  is 
quite  evident  that  you  have  found  somebody  better  than  me. 
Kindly  write  about  it.  Is  it  one  of  ours  or  a  man  of  Thorn  '.  I 
rather  think  a  man  of  Thorn,  and  that  you  want  to  be  revenged 
for  what  I  did  two  years  ago.  That  is  the  way  you  daughters 
of  Eve  act  with  us  old  fellows.' 

'  Greif swald,  August  2, 1712.  .  .  .  Thank  God,  we  are  well, 
only  'tis  very  hard  living,  for  I  can't  use  my  left  hand,  and  in 
my  right  alone  I  have  to  hold  both  sword  and  pen.  How  many 
helpers  I  have  thou  knowest.' 

'Greif swald,  August  8,  1712.  I  hear  that  thou  art  bored, 
and  I  am  not  without  being  bored,  but  thou  canst  judge  that 
business  does  not  leave  me  much  time  for  miwi.    I  don't  think 


CORRESPONDENCE    WITH    CATHERINE.  443 

I  can  get  away  from  here  to  thee  quickly,  and  if  the  horses 
have  arrived,  come  on  with  the  three  battalions  that  are  ordered 
to  go  to  Anclam.  But,  for  God's  sake,  take  care  not  to  go  a 
hundred  yards  from  the  battalions,  for  there  are  many  enemy's 
ships  in  the  Half,  and  the  men  constantly  go  into  the  woods  in 
great  numbers,  and  through  those  woods  thou  must  pass.' 

'Berlin,  October  2,  1712.  I  inform  you  that  day  before 
yesterday  I  arrived  here  and  went  to  see  the  King.  Yesterday 
morning  he  came  to  me,  and  last  night  I  went  to  the  Queen.  I 
send  you  as  many  oysters  as  I  could  find.  I  couldn't  get  any 
more,  hecause  they  say  the  pest  has  broken  out  in  Hamburg,  and 
it  is  forbidden  to  bring  anything  from  there.' 

'  Leipzig,  October  6,  1712.  I  this  moment  start  for  Carlsbad 
and  hope  to  arrive  to-morrow.  Your  clothes  and  other  things 
were  bought,  but  I  couldn't  get  any  oysters.  With  this  I  con- 
fide you  to  God's  keeping.' 

'  Carlsbad,  October  11,  1712.  We  began  to  drink  water  at 
this  hole  yesterday.  How  it  works  I  shall  write,  but  don't  ask 
for  any  other  news  from  this  wilderness.' 

'  Lagan,  Dec.  2,  1712.  .  .  .  Thanks  for  the  clothes,  which  I 
put  on  new  on  St.  Andrew's  day.  As  to  what  you  say  about 
bringing  you  here,  we  must  put  that  off  for  a  while,  for  the  time 
has  come  for  you  to  pray  and  for  us  to  work.  The  Swedes  yes- 
terday attacked  the  Danes  to  keep  them  from  joining  us,  and 
we  are  starting  this  moment  to  help  the  Danes.' 

In  1716,  when  on  his  way  to  the  waters,  Peter  received  from 
Catherine  a  pair  of  spectacles.  He  writes :  '  Leaving  Altona, 
May  23,  1716.  Katerinushka,  my  heart's  friend,  how  are  you. 
Thanks  for  the  present.  In  the  same  way  I  send  you  something 
from  here  in  return.  Really  on  both  sides  the  presents  are 
suitable.  You  sent  me  wherewithal  to  help  my  old  age,  and  I 
send  you  with  which  to  adorn  your  youth.' 

And  again  :  '  Pyrmont,  June  5,  1716.  I  received  your  letter 
with  the  present,  and  I  think  you  have  a  prophetic  spirit  that 


• 


444  PETER   THE   GREAT. 

you  sent  only  one  bottle,  for  I  am  not  allowed  to  drink  more 
than  one  glass  a  day,  so  that  this  store  is  quite  enough  for  me. 
Yon  write  that  von  don't  admit  my  being  old.  In  that  way  you 
try  to  cover  up  your  first  present  so  that  people  should  not  guess. 
But  it  is  easy  to  discover  that  young  people  don't  look  through 
spectacles.  I  shall  see  you  soon.  The  water  is  acting  well,  but 
it  has  become  very  tiresome  here.' 

'  Altona,  Nov.  23,1710.  .  .  .  Alexander  Petrovitch  writes 
that  Petrushka  lias  cut  his  fourth  tooth  ;  God  grant  he  cut  all 
so  well,  and  that  we  may  see  him  grow  up,  thus  rewarding  us 
for  our  former  grief  over  his  brothers.  .  .  .' 

Catherine  tells  her  husband  of  this  boy  in  a  letter  written 
two  years  later,  when  the  Tsar  was  cruising  in  the  Baltic :  '  July 
24,  1718.  I  and  the  children,  thank  God,  are  in  good  health. 
Although  on  my  way  to  Petersburg  Petrushka  was  a  little  weak 
with  his  last  teeth,  yet  now  with  God's  help  he  is  quite  well  and 
has  cut  three  back  teeth.  I  beg  you,  little  father,  for  protection, 
for  he  has  no  little  quarrel  with  me  about  you, — namely,  because 
when  I  tell  him  that  Papa  has  gone  away  he  does  not  like  it, 
but  he  likes  it  better  and  becomes  glad  when  one  says  that  Papa 
is  here.'  Peter  was  greatly  pleased  with  this  letter,  to  which 
he  immediately  replied  in  the  same  vein.  In  another  letter 
from  Beval,  dated  August  1, 1718,  he  says  :  '  Thanks,  my  friend, 
for  the  figs,  which  came  safely.  I  have  had  myself  shorn  here, 
and  send  you  my  shorn  locks,  though  I  know  they  will  not  be 
received.' 

The  next  summer  Peter  again  wrote  from  Reval:  'The 
new  garden  is  very  fine,  and  the  trees  on  the  seaside  or  the 
north  very  well  planted,  but  on  the  south  must  be  changed.  Not 
one  tree  has  been  set  out  at  the  espalier,  in  which  Neronof  lied. 
They  are  now  levelling  the  court  which  will  be  behind  the  house. 
All  the  earthwork  is  done  in  the  garden.  To  tell  the  truth  it 
will  be  a  marvel  when  finished.  I  send  you  some  flowers,  and 
some  of  the  mint  which  you  yourself  planted.  Thank  God,  all 
is  merry  here,  except  that  when  one  goes  out  to  the  villa  and 
you  are  nut  there  it  is  very  lonesome.' 


LETTERS   TO   CATHERINE.  445 

There  still  lie  between  the  pages  of  this  letter  a  little  bunch 
of  dried  flowers  and  some  mint,  as  well  as  a  notice  cut  from  a 
newspaper  of  a  man  and  woman  respectively  12G  and  125  years 
old,  who  had  been  married  110  years,  arriving  at  London  from 
Monmouthshire.  Catherine,  in  a  long  and  pleasant  letter  ac- 
knowledging this,  says :  '  Thanks,  my  friend,  for  the  present. 
'Tis  not  dear  to  me  because  I  planted  it,  but  because  it  conies 
from  thy  hands.'  Soon  after  she  writes :  '  Our  only  pleasure 
here  is  the  garden.  .  .  .  The  Frenchman,  who  made  the  new 
flower-beds,  was  walking  one  bad  night  and  met  Ivashka  Khmel- 
nitsky,  and  had  such  a  bout  with  him  {i.e.  got  drunk)  that  he 
was  pushed  off  the  bridge  and  sent  to  make  flower-beds  in  the 
other  world.' 

Sending  Peter  some  apples  and  fresh  nuts  Catherine  writes  : 
'  The  lion  (Leo)  sent  by  Your  Grace  came  to  me.  Quite  won- 
derful, but  he  is  not  a  lion,  merely  a  playful  cat  from  the  dear 
Lion.  He  brought  me  a  letter  which  pleased  me,  but  kindly 
send  me  him  whom  I  call  Lion.' 

Peter  again  visits  Heval,  and  writes  in  July,  1723 :  '  The 
garden  planted  only  two  years  ago  has  grown  beyond  belief,  for 
the  only  big  trees  which  you  saw  have  in  some  places  stretched 
their  branches  across  the  walk,  and  Aunty's  tree,  the  stem  of 
which  was  like  a  middle  finger  without  the  nail,  has  taken  splen- 
didly. The  chestnuts  all  have  fine  crowns.  The  house  is  being 
plastered  outside,  but  is  ready  within,  and  in  one  word  we  have 
hardly  anywhere  such  a  regular  house.  I  send  you  some  straw- 
berries, which  ripened  before  our  arrival,  as  well  as  cherries.  I 
am  quite  astonished  that  things  are  so  early  here,  when  it  is  in 
the  same  latitude  as  Petersburg.' ' 

1  Ust.rialof,  IV.  v.  viii. ;  Sadler,  Peter  der  Grosse ;  Correspondence  of  the 
Russian  Sovereigns  (Russian),  I.;  Semefsky,  The  Moris  Family;  Solovief, 
xiv. ;  Esipof,  Menshikof ;  Kostomurof,  Russian  History,  vi. 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


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